The Minnesota Vikings will battle the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, and while they have their own questions to answer by the time they kick off on Sept. 13, they have to like what they see from their rivals this offseason.
Vikings fans may have cracked a big smile when Micah Parsons confirmed he will miss the season opener with a torn ACL, and it may have transitioned to a full-blown belly laugh when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Thursday that the Packers have agreed to a four-year, $110.5 million contract extension with wide receiver Christian Watson.
A dynamic receiver with a long list of injuries, Vikings fans may consider it a big win, and it may be enough to make them wonder what the Packers are thinking as the season opener approaches.
Minnesota Vikings watch Green Bay Packers hilariously overpay Christian Watson
A second-round pick out of North Dakota State, Watson may be known by Vikings fans as the player who dropped a wide-open touchdown from Aaron Rodgers on his first career target during the 2022 season opener.
He may also be known as a player with 133 catches, 2,264 yards, and 20 touchdowns over his first four seasons with the Packers, but is also constantly injured.
Watson’s career began with off-season knee surgery in 2022 and later a hamstring injury that limited him to 14 games. He played just nine games during the 2023 season due to more hamstring issues and had ankle and knee injuries in 2024 before tearing his ACL during the regular season finale.
The torn ACL knocked out Watson for the first seven games last season, and while he was productive with 35 catches for 611 yards and six touchdowns, this is still a player who has career highs of 41 catches (2022) and 620 receiving yards (2024).
There should be some nervous energy from Vikings fans as Watson’s annual average salary of $27.6 million could make Jordan Addison’s next contract skyrocket. But it’s also a steep price to pay for Green Bay, as Watson’s AAV is only $7.4 million less than Justin Jefferson ($35 million), according to Over The Cap.
While Packers fans have compared Watson to Randy Moss, any Vikings fan who has watched the two knows it’s not true.
And it may also have long-term ramifications for the Packers, who still need to extend Tucker Kraft this offseason and have a pair of top-of-the-market players on the roster, including Parsons ($46.5 million AAV) and quarterback Jordan Love ($55 million AAV).
Of course, NFL contracts are filled with incentives and money that can be moved around if Watson doesn’t perform. But even if he’s got enough Monopoly money to live on Green Bay’s equivalent of Park Place or the Boardwalk, it feels like an extremely risky bet extending an injury-prone player with modest stats.
Perhaps a big game from Watson in Week 1 could have the Packers getting the last laugh. But for now, it looks like a deal that the Vikings’ biggest rivals could live to regret.
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