Packers dynamic playmaker sends firm message with reason for huge optimism about how special 2025 could become
Christian Watson is almost there.
The first two weeks of the regular season couldn’t have been much better for the Green Bay Packers. The team showed insane potential and production, beating two of the best NFC teams in the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders.
Nonetheless, things could be even better down the stretch. Wide receiver Christian Watson, a big part of the offense over the past three years, is closer to his return from a serious knee injury suffered in January.
“I feel like if it was the NFC Championship Game tomorrow, I would be able to go out there and feel confident, for sure,” Watson said on Monday. “At the end of the day, I gotta be as smart as I can with it and not let it be a long-term thing. Nine months is long enough, so I want to get the nine months out the way and come back and be 100% Christian Watson and go out there and not have to worry about it anymore.”
Watson started the season on the physically unable to perform list, so he is forced by rule to miss at least four games. That means he’s out against the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys, but could theoretically return after the bye, when the Packers play the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6.
“I’m already champing at the bit. I gotta listen to both shoulders. I gotta understand what’s the smartest way to go about it at the same time,” Watson added. “I’ve learned from experiences in the past of trying to get out there too quick, unfortunately, and I just gotta try to be as smart as possible so when I know that I’m ready. I’m going to want to get out there, but at the same time, I’ve gotta know that I’m 110 percent.”
Contract extension
While Watson recovers from his ACL injury, the Packers gave him a one-year extension. Now, he’s under contract through 2026 and has more serenity to take care of his body and progressively return to the field.
It’s a one-year, $11 million in base value. The deal includes a $6 million signing bonus, the guaranteed part of the contract, which allowed the Packers to add void years. Even though the voids help lower the cap hit in Year 1, it was mostly a tool that Green Bay used to still have more flexibility to give Watson a new contract extension next offseason if wanted.
“I know what I’m worth as a player when comparing it to the market and whatnot, but it’s a risk and reward when it comes down to it with the injuries that I’ve had in the past, and obviously coming back from a major injury like this,” Watson explained. “Weighing the risk and weighing the reward of going both ways with it, from the stuff on the field and the stuff off the field, definitely took a lot of pressure off of my mind and all that for sure.”
Christian Watson might not have been the most consistent player throughout his NFL career so far. But his explosiveness and speed down the field make the Packers’ offense be the best possible version of itself—something particularly important while Jayden Reed is also out with a shoulder injury. For Green Bay, it’s finally coming.
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