Packers Wideout Christian Watson Has Been Worth Every Cent Of His Contract

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson celebrates with fans after catching a touchdown pass in the first half against Chicago Sunday.

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Long term contracts are always risky business.

Especially when you’re giving big money to a player who’s been injury prone and suffered a torn ACL just 17 months earlier.

Right now, though, the Green Bay Packers’ investment in Christian Watson looks like one of general manager Brian Gutekunst’s better signings.

Watson signed a four-year, $110.5 million contract extension in June, making him the 15^th-highest paid receiver in football. Through five weeks, Watson is playing like one of the NFL’s top-five wideouts.

During Green Bay’s 31-7 rout of Chicago Sunday, Watson had six catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Watson had a 42-yard TD on Green Bay’s opening possession, then made a sensational 53-yard TD reception over Bears rookie safety Dillon Thieneman on the Packers’ opening drive of the second half.

Green Bay improved to 3-2 while dismantling their arch-rivals to the south. The Packers now sit in a second place tie with Chicago and Detroit, two games back of NFC North leading Minnesota (5-0).

“I think I’m right where I’m at, but obviously I’ve got to keep on climbing,” Watson said. “There’s a lot of individual goals I want to achieve, but I’ve got to keep on doing what I’m doing if we want to have success as a team. Obviously they’re relying on me a lot, so I’ve got to keep on doing what I’m doing to obviously get the team the best chance to continue winning.”

Watson is certainly giving the Packers a tremendous chance to win these days.

Through five games, Watson has 26 receptions for 474 yards and six touchdowns. Watson ranks fifth in the NFL in receiving yards, is third in average yards per catch (18.2) and sits alone in second place with his six TDs, behind only Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba (seven).

If Watson continues at his torrid pace, he’d finish the year with 88 catches, 1,612 yards and 20 touchdowns. Davante Adams holds the Packers’ single-season record for receiving yards (1,553), while Sterling Sharpe and Adams share the record for most receiving TDs in a year (18).

“I appreciate him man because he pushes me each and every day,” Green Bay wideout Matthew Golden said of Watson. “I’m just grateful to be in a room with a guy like that.”

While Watson is off to one of the best starts in franchise history by a wide receiver, locking him into a long term was never a slam dunk.

Watson, a second round draft pick from North Dakota State in 2022, caught 41 passes for 611 yards and had a team-best seven receiving touchdowns as a rookie. He missed three games that year due to injury, but still tied for No. 1 in the NFL among rookies in TD catches and ranked No. 5 among rookies in receiving yards.

Watson had a remarkably frustrating 2023 campaign, though, playing only nine games and taking the field for just 40.7% of the snaps due to a pair of hamstring injuries. Watson had 28 receptions and five touchdowns in 2023, but it marked the second straight year injuries sidetracked his season.

For the most part, Watson got over the injury bug in 2024, playing in 15 of 17 games. His numbers (29 receptions, 620 yards, two TDs) were mediocre, though, then he tore his ACL in the final regular season game of the year.

Watson signed a one-year, $11 million extension in Sept., 2025, that gave both him and the team a chance to better evaluate his future as he battled back from a torn ACL.

Watson then returned during Green Bay’s win at Pittsburgh on Oct. 26, 2025, and went on to have arguably his finest season.

Watson played the final 10 games last season and finished with 35 catches for 611 yards and six touchdowns. Over that stretch, Watson’s average of 17.5 yards per catch led the NFL.

The Packers saw everything they needed, then signed Watson to an extension that included a $31 million signing bonus.

Right now, it sure looks like money well spent.

“He embodies what we want to be about,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of Watson after he signed his extension. “I think he’s a team-first kind of guy.

“Never once over the course of four years have I ever heard him complain about not getting the ball. He does all the little things the right way. I think he handles himself the right way, he’s a great teammate, he busts his butt every day when he comes in the building. He does all the dirty work in the run game. So, I was super-fired up for him.”

The Packers are even more fired up today with Watson delivering an All-Pro season.