The NFL doesn’t slow down in June. In the span of 72 hours, five players locked up long-term money totaling $435.5 million in new contract value, touching three of the league’s most important positions: wide receiver, tight end, and edge rusher. Two Steelers, one Packer, one Falcon, one Seahawk. The deals tell five different stories.
Drake London, Falcons: 4 years, $141M ($100M guaranteed)
Atlanta signed London on Tuesday. His agent, Andrew Kessler, told ESPN the deal runs four years and $141 million with $100 million guaranteed, rising to $150 million through incentives. At $35.25 million per year, London sits third among all NFL receivers behind Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba ($42.15M AAV) and Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase ($40.25M AAV). It is the highest average annual salary in Falcons franchise history.
London, 24, enters his fifth NFL season on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, worth $16.82 million for 2026. The extension kicks in from 2027 and keeps him in Atlanta through 2030. Since the Falcons drafted him eighth overall in 2022, London has posted 309 catches, 3,961 yards, and 22 touchdowns across 62 games, a steady climb that peaked in 2024, when he caught 100 passes for 1,271 yards and nine scores despite stretches of poor quarterback play.
Injuries held him to 12 games in 2025, but London still produced 68 catches for 919 yards and seven touchdowns, putting him on a per-game pace that would have shattered his career highs. The Falcons locked him up without waiting for quarterback clarity. Michael Penix Jr. is recovering from a knee injury. Tua Tagovailoa is on the roster. London will take his fifth different Week 1 starting quarterback in five years.
That context makes the guaranteed money matter. The Falcons are betting $100 million that London’s production survives whoever is taking snaps. Given his numbers across four different QBs, Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, Kirk Cousins, and Penix, the bet has a track record behind it.
Christian Watson, Packers: 4 years, $110.5M ($31M signing bonus)
Green Bay got its receiver news Thursday when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Watson signed a four-year, $110.5 million extension with a $31 million signing bonus. Watson, 27, was under contract through 2026, so the new deal ties him to the Packers through the 2030 season.
The extension is Green Bay’s second major WR commitment this offseason. In April, Jayden Reed signed a three-year, $50.25 million deal. With Watson locked up at $27.5 million per year in new money and Matthew Golden drafted in the first round in 2025, Jordan Love now has a receiver room built for the next several years.
The durability question hasn’t gone away. Watson hasn’t played a full season since entering the NFL. In 2025, he appeared in 10 games and caught 35 passes for 611 yards and six touchdowns, finishing with career highs in yards per game (61.1) and catch rate (63.6%). His 17.5 yards per catch put him among the league’s most efficient deep threats. He also missed seven games.
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst addressed Watson’s future in April, telling reporters, “Certainly, we would like Christian around. He did an amazing job with his rehab process and was just a true pro.” That statement became a done deal Thursday.
The financial calculus hinges on health. Watson carries per-game numbers comparable to receivers earning $35 million-plus per year. Stringing together 16 of those games in a season remains the test. The Packers are paying on upside, not a track record of availability, and they know the difference.
Nick Herbig, Steelers: 4 years, $100M ($42M guaranteed)
Pittsburgh made Monday’s news cycle when Herbig agreed to a four-year, $100 million extension with $42 million guaranteed, confirmed by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Herbig, 24, was entering the final year of his rookie contract from the 2023 draft.
Garafolo noted the deal carries a piece of NFL history: it is believed to be the first time a non-quarterback landed a $100 million contract extension without having started a full NFL season. Across three years and 45 appearances, Herbig has made 11 starts, never more than six in a single season. He operates behind T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith in Pittsburgh’s pass rush rotation.
His production with those limited reps justifies the price. Herbig recorded 7.5 sacks in 2025, along with 30 tackles (13 for loss), three forced fumbles, three passes defensed, and his first career interception. He led all edge rushers in pass rush win rate at 26.3%, per ESPN Analytics and NFL Next Gen Stats, and tied Highsmith for the team lead in pressures with 45.
“I wouldn’t call myself not a starter,” Herbig told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “I’m a team guy. If you need me to play off the ball, on the ball, need me to run down on punt, I’m a Steeler. There are no starters and backups. I’m a Steeler.”
Pittsburgh now pays its three primary edge rushers $83 million per year combined. Watt’s three-year extension averages $41 million, Highsmith’s four-year deal averages $17 million, and Herbig’s new contract averages $25 million. Only Houston carries a heavier financial commitment to the position.
After signing Wednesday, Herbig told reporters he wants Pittsburgh to retain its entire 2023 draft class: “I think we got a bunch of dogs in there.” The next day, Darnell Washington confirmed it.
Darnell Washington, Steelers: 4 years, $42M ($21M guaranteed)
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Washington’s four-year, $42 million extension Wednesday night, with $21 million guaranteed. Washington, 24, was entering the last year of his rookie contract after Pittsburgh selected him in the third round of the 2023 draft.
At $10.5 million per year, Washington ranks at the top of the blocking tight end market, with the highest average annual salary at that designation. He has also developed enough as a receiver to complicate the label. In 2025, he set career highs with 31 catches on 43 targets for 364 yards and one touchdown across 14 games, building a quick connection with Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers assessed Washington without hedging. “He’s definitely in the right position, because he’s so big and so athletic for a man of that size. To be that skilled in the passing game is pretty impressive, not to mention what he does on the line of scrimmage.”
First-year head coach Mike McCarthy offered his own read in minicamp. “Love Darnell. He’s been here every day, classroom, good student. He’s a pros pro. I’ve been very, very impressed with him.”
Washington stands 6-foot-7 and plays in the neighborhood of 300 pounds, a combination that makes him a genuine red zone weapon and a matchup problem for linebackers in space. His career totals (57 catches, 625 yards, two touchdowns) undersell what he does for an offense. With Pat Freiermuth holding down the pass-catching role for three more years, Pittsburgh’s tight end room is built through the decade.
Derick Hall, Seahawks: 3 years, $42M ($21M guaranteed)
Seattle extended Hall on Tuesday, one day after the Los Angeles Rams traded for Myles Garrett. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the terms: three years, $42 million, with $21 million guaranteed and a maximum value of $46.5 million through incentives. Hall, 25, was set to earn $1.993 million in 2026 in the final year of his rookie deal. The extension keeps him in Seattle through 2029.
The surface numbers from Hall’s 2025 regular season drew scrutiny. He recorded two sacks in 14 games after posting eight in 2024. The advanced metrics told a different story. He posted a 16.7% pressure rate and 41 total pressures, per True Media, with his run defense grade at Pro Football Focus climbing from 45.7 in 2024 to 69.9 in 2025. Mike Macdonald’s scheme demands run defense from edge rushers. Hall delivered.
Then came the Super Bowl.
In Seattle’s 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, Hall sacked Drake Maye twice and forced a fumble that Bryon Murphy II recovered, leading to the Seahawks’ first offensive touchdown of the game. That performance settled the extension conversation.
At $14 million per year, Hall ranks 33rd among edge rushers by average annual value per Over The Cap, a number Seattle will appreciate as the deal ages. The Seahawks passed on matching Boye Mafe’s three-year, $60 million contract with Cincinnati this offseason, choosing Hall at a $46 million discount over the same term. The departure of Mafe and the pending free agency of Uchenna Nwosu made this extension a necessity, and Seattle locked in a Super Bowl contributor at a price that leaves cap room to work.
The Bigger Picture
These five deals reflect where the NFL’s position markets sit heading into 2026. Receivers continue to raise the floor. London at $35.25M annually restates what a legitimate No. 1 target costs in a post-JSN, post-Chase market. Watson at $27.5M in new money reflects what teams pay for elite deep-threat efficiency when durability remains an open question.
The two Pittsburgh signings in back-to-back days reveal what GM Omar Khan is doing with the 2023 draft class: locking up contributors before anyone hits free agency. Herbig’s deal values pass rush productivity over snap count. Washington values positional uniqueness over raw receiving production. Both bets rest on the same logic: it costs more to replace them than to keep them.
Hall’s deal is the quietest value of the group. Fourteen million per year for a Super Bowl contributor, improving run defense grades, and four years of team control is a number Seattle’s front office built deliberately. The Seahawks didn’t panic after the Rams added Garrett. They went back to their own roster instead.
Five deals. $435.5 million. The business of football doesn’t take a summer.
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