The Seattle Seahawks have been successful offensively this season for various reasons, but the combination of Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba is likely the biggest one. JSN gets a higher amount of targets than any receiver in the league, and he makes the most of them.
But Smith-Njigba, being the only truly productive wideout for Seattle, cannot continue. While Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in receiving yards through Week 12 but almost 300 yards, he leads the rest of the players on the Seahawks roster by 899 (Cooper Kupp is second), and has nearly 50 more catches than anyone else in a Seattle uniform.
Eventually, even this season, teams are going to begin to rotate so much of their attention to Smith-Njigba that his production diminishes. Does the team have any other wideouts that can step up? Maybe not.
NFL analyst thinks Brandon Aiyuk and the Seattle Seahawks would be a dream pairing
The issue will have to be addressed next offseason, and Seattle might be able to do that while stealing one of the San Francisco 49ers' better receivers, at least when the player is healthy. Brandon Aiyuk has not been this year after playing in just seven games in 2024. He and his team also are not seeing eye-to-eye on his rehab.
San Francisco voided Aiyuk's future guarantees for 2026 as the team asserts the player has not been attending meetings and has not fulfilled his part of the contract. A knee injury has kept him out of games, and it is unknown what the status of his injury is currently.
One would assume that the receiver would be fine to play by the start of next season, though. He might not want that to be with the 49ers. The team would have to release him, but if the conflict between the two is so great, it might make sense to do so, as the 49ers would save more than $30 million by 2027.
If the parting does happen, Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox sees Aiyuk and the Seattle Seahawks as a "dream pairing." And why not? Seattle's offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, worked for the 49ers in 2023 when Aiyuk had his best season, and quarterback Sam Darnold was a backup on that San Francisco squad. A built-in chemistry would already exist between the Seahawks and Aiyuk.
Assuming Brandon Aiyuk can return to full health and is motivated to play (and expose his former team), the wide receiver would form one of the better wide receiver duos in the NFL with Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Plus, Tory Horton should be fully healthy again in 2026, too.
Could it happen? Yes. The questions are many, though. Does Aiyuk want to play football anymore? How much would it cost to sign him? If the 49ers release Aiyuk, Seahawks general manager John Schneider should take the risk in bringing the receiver to Seattle.