GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers made receiver Jayden Reed an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Reed, who is entering his fourth year and would have been a free agent in 2027, accepted a contract extension offer, a source confirmed to the Journal Sentinel on April 24. It is a three-year, $50 million contract extension, including $20 million guaranteed, according to a report on ESPN. Reed, who switched agents last year to Drew Rosenhaus, is coming off an injury-plagued year in which he played in just seven games.
But the Packers apparently saw enough in his first two seasons when he started 23 games and caught 119 passes for 1,650 yards and 14 touchdowns.
At his best, Reed is an on-the-move receiver who excels running routes out of cross-the-field motion and is able to run with the ball on jet sweeps. When healthy, he was used in motion far more than any other receiver on the team, which made him extremely valuable in coach Matt LaFleur’s offense.
LaFleur also has second-year receiver Savion Williams to do some of those movements, but Reed is a proven commodity.
Reed was scheduled to make a base salary of $1,729,197 in 2026 and had a salary cap number of $2,284,793. Both will go up considerably.
Reed’s extension is a bit of a surprise because it was thought Christian Watson would be first in line among the receivers to sign a long-term extension.
Watson signed a one-year, $11 million extension last season and will become a free agent in ’27. Watson came back from a torn ACL suffered in 2024 to catch 35 passes for 611 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games last season.
The Packers still have plenty of salary cap room to sign Watson to a long-term deal and there are no signs this move changes their mind about keeping Watson.
But it’s clear they wanted to lock down Reed regardless of what happens with Watson.
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers lock down receiver Jayden Reed to three-year extension
Reporting by Tom Silverstein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
