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Christian Watson appreciated the faith the Green Bay Packers showed in him, even when he thought he didn’t necessarily deserve it.
Now that they’ve given him a contract extension, Watson will reward them by staying healthy and producing the best season of his career.
“I try not to look too much at the number of things,” Watson said Tuesday while speaking to reporters for the first time since signing his four-year extension last week. “I’ll take it week by week. But if I’m really looking and I want to set personal goals, I definitely want double-digit touchdowns and I want over 1,100 yards.”
Watson, 27, has never accumulated more than 41 catches or 620 yards in any of his four seasons, but he showed last year that he is capable of much more if he can avoid injuries.
After tearing his right ACL in Green Bay’s 2024 regular-season finale, Watson missed the Packers’ first six contests last year but returned to catch 35 passes for 611 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games.
Now he has a $31 million signing bonus as part of a four-year extension worth up to $110.50 when incentives are included, though the base value of the contract is about $92 million.
“They gave me countless chances when it looked like I shouldn’t have had those chances anymore,” Watson said. “Not to say I’m paying them back for it or anything — I think we both won on the deal — and I have an opportunity to still make those dollars, guaranteed or not. I feel like I’m in a good place.”
In fact, Watson has been through plenty of ups and downs since the Packers selected him out of North Dakota State in the second round of the 2022 draft.
He opened his career by going wide open but dropping a potential touchdown catch from Aaron Rodgers. Watson returned to score eight touchdowns in a four-game stretch later in his rookie season, but he missed eight games with hamstring injuries in 2023. Injuries have limited him to a total of 48 games over his first four seasons.
Yet he never doubted the possibility that he could achieve these types of long-term deals.
“Of course there was always downtime right at that moment,” Watson said. “You drop a pass or something or you have a hamstring or something. In that moment, I definitely felt sorry for myself a little bit. But I feel like I’ve always done a really good job of coming back. I had really good, great people around me that helped me come back. I don’t think I was ever down too long. I think the positive mindset was always there.”
Watson’s extension received rave reviews from his teammates.
“It’s a testament to the work he puts in, the type of player he is, who he is in this locker room,” quarterback Jordan Love said.
Watson has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches for the way he navigated all of these challenges, especially in the work he did to get back into top shape so quickly after tearing his ACL.
“He embodies what we want to be about,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think he’s a team type of guy. Never in four years have I ever heard him complain about not getting the ball. He does all the little things the right way.”
Watson’s extension comes in an offseason in which the Packers clarified the pecking order for their receiving room.
Now that Romeo Doubs has signed with New England and Dontayvion Wicks has been traded to Philadelphia, the Packers enter the season with Watson, Jayden Reed and 2025 first-round draft pick Matthew Golden as their clear top three wideouts. Reed agreed to a three-year, $50.25 million extension in April.
“Just having the foundation of our offense locked in for the next couple of years, I think, is going to be huge for us, just in terms of finding consistency in our offense,” Watson said. “And just having those go-to guys available long-term, I think will definitely be huge for us in the flow of our offense.”
Watson intends to be a big part of that foundation for years to come
“I’m going to be grateful every single day that I get out on that field, to be honest,” Watson said. “I definitely want to go out there every day with the mindset of continuing to earn that contract every single day.”
Report from the Associated Press.
