Seahawks WR Rashid Shaheed Set for Big Payday After Super Bowl 2026

Leading up to the NFL’s trade deadline in November of 2025, you would have been hard-pressed to find a more popular trade candidate than the New Orleans Saints’ Rashid Shaheed. The NFC South franchise was desperately in need of draft picks, and with the speedy receiver set to become a free agent this offseason, it was in the best interest of everyone involved that he be traded to a contending team.

Thankfully, for the Seattle Seahawks, a set of 2026 fourth- and fifth-round draft picks was enough to secure the services of the 27-year-old return specialist. After enduring three losing seasons with the Saints, Shaheed now finds himself one game away from becoming a Super Bowl champion, and seeing as Seattle has yet to offer him any kind of extension, it’s safe to say he’s now in line for a massive payday.

According to Spotrac, Shaheed will be a “sneaky big free agent this March,” and he’ll likely receive a contract valued at around $42.4 million that will be good for three years. With his current career earnings sitting at just over $7.3 million, a deal of that magnitude would see his total earnings multiply by more than sixfold.

Throw in the fact that Shaheed’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has overseen more than $7 billion worth of NFL contract negotiations, and it’s safe to say that he’s got a bright and lucrative future ahead of him. Although, as far as the Seahawks are concerned, Shaheed has already proven to be worth the investment.

On Seattle’s first drive of their NFC Championship match-up against the Los Angeles Rams, the Seahawks immediately encountered a third-and-mid situation following a five-yard rush from Kenneth Walker III and a rare incomplete pass to Jaxson Smith-Njigba. That’s when Shaheed stepped up, both figuratively and literally.

The soon-to-be free agent proceeded to torch Los Angeles’ defense, hauling in a 51-yard pass that ultimately allowed the Seahawks to draw first blood in the contest. It helped to establish an early sense of momentum by waking up the 12th man at Lumen Field that day, one that Seattle would ultimately ride all the way to victory.

We haven’t seen a lengthy punt return during the Super Bowl ever since the Kansas City Chiefs’ Kadarius Toney managed to record a 65-yard return at Super Bowl LVII in 2023. Toney’s return was enough to set the record for the longest of its kind in Super Bowl history, but if there’s anyone who is capable of providing fans with a similar moment on February 8th, it’s Shaheed.

Suffice to say, don’t get too comfortable whenever you see the punting units strolling out onto the field next weekend, as they might just give way to a career-defining moment for the once WR2 of New Orleans.