Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba Airs Thoughts on Trophy Mistake

Seattle Seahawks star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba didn’t like how one trophy turned out amid his team’s championship season.

Smith-Njigba recently revealed that his NFL Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year trophy has a significant mistake on it, and he shared it on social media. He posted a photo of the mislabeled trophy that read “2025 Defensive Player of the Year” on the plaque.

“I really want to expose them,” Smith-Njigba said during his video on Instagram. “It’s getting disrespectful, guys. Defense? C’mon, bro.”

Smith-Njigba also showed off his editing skills when he pointed out the missing space between “the” and “year” at the end.

“One word? Man,” Njigba said on Instagram.

Smith-Njigba went on to express how he wanted the mistake handled in a separate post.

“Just keep the award at this point. Leave it in the history books tho,” he wrote on Instagram.

Despite Smith-Njigba’s conciliatory statement, the NFL will send him a new, corrected trophy. The Athletic confirmed as much with NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy, who stated that there was actually a spelling error of “oefensive” rather than “defensive” on the trophy.

“The league made the mistake. We sincerely apologize to Jaxon for the error and are in the process of creating and shipping him a new trophy,” McCarthy said. “Of course, like the teams he played against this year, we know how great an offensive player he is. We just had a problem spelling it.”

A former first-round pick in the 2023 draft out of Ohio State, Smith-Njigba produced a career year for the Seahawks in 2025. He caught 119 passes for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also averaged 15.1 yards per reception, and he caught 61.3 percent of his targets.

Smith-Njigba led the league in yards, and finished fourth in receptions and sixth in touchdowns. He continued to shine in the playoffs, where he had 17 receptions for 199 yards and two touchdowns in three games.

A two-time Pro Bowler and recent first-time All-Pro, Smith-Nijgba helped the Seahawks finish 14–3 and make the playoffs for the first time since 2022. Seattle hadn’t won a postseason game since the 2019 season.

Smith-Njigba previously hit 100 receptions and 1,000 yards in his second season for 2024. He had 100 receptions for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns in that year.

As a rookie, Smith-Njigba caught 63 passes for four touchdowns in 2023. He played with former Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith those first two seasons, and with Sam Darnold when he became the quarterback in 2025.

Darnold had success with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, where he had another top wide receiver in Justin Jefferson. The former USC star and former No. 3 pick by the New York Jets simply built on that success with Smith-Njigba in 2025.

Seattle also made a greater investment in Smith-Njigba on the field by parting ways with longtime receiver stars D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett after the 2024 season. The Seahawks traded Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025, and Seattle released Lockett, who played with the Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders last year.

Seattle brought in veteran wide receiver and former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp as the second wideout for 2025. Kupp complemented Smith-Njigba with 47 catches for 593 yards and two touchdowns. While Smith-Njigba had a strong showing in the Super Bowl, former Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III’s play eclipsed Smith-Njigba’s chances of the award.

The Seahawks rewarded Smith-Njigba for his play with a four-year, $168.6 million contract extension after the Super Bowl win. He became the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL with $42.15 million per year, ahead of Cincinnati Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase’s $40.25 million annually.

Smith-Njigba also earns more than other big-name wideouts including Jefferson, Dallas Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb, and former teammate Metcalf.