A year ago, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was asked about Shane Waldron in an interview after Waldron was hired by the Chicago Bears. JSN basically told Bears fans, "Good luck." There was also a "good riddance" implied.
Seattle had failed to make the playoffs in Waldron's last year with the team (2023), and that also happened to be Smith-Njigba's rookie season. The wide receiver was not overly productive and was ill-used by Waldron for much of the season. Based on how good Smith-Njigba was in 2024 (100 catches for 1,130 receiving yards), we can assume the receiver is correct about Waldron's ineffectiveness.
Smith-Njigba also comes off as a very nice person and one who is quick to laugh off the field. The reason to bring this up is that he does not appear to be one to quickly and intentionally choose harsh words to describe anyone. That may not be the case when it comes to Waldron, however.
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba basically doubles down on Shane Waldron criticism
Flash-forward a year later to a podcast interview that JSN did with Laviska Shenalut, Jr's on Athlete's Aura (Shenault was a Seahawk for part of 2024), and Smith-Njigba's thoughts on Waldron do not seem to have changed.
Asked about his comments from last year, SmithNjigba confessed to being caught off guard by the question about Waldron, as the offensive coordinator had just recently been let go in Seattle and hired in Chicago. JSN rightfully admitted he does not follow what happens with the Bears closely as there is no real need to.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba trying to clear the air on the Shane Waldron clip just to do it again lmfao pic.twitter.com/aPX0XLEnrj
— vountee (@vountee) February 15, 2025
Smith-Njigba also says he would like to clear up his comments and that Waldron is a "good" offensive coordinator, but then pauses for effect. He also says, genuinely, that Waldron should not be disrespected. But the pause says more than the words JSN uses. There is no real misunderstanding about how he feels about his former OC.
Of course, the Seahawks now seem to be a rotating carousel of offensive coordinators. 2025 will be Smith-Njigba's third year in the league and newly hired Klint Kubiak will be his third offensive coordinator. Let's hope Kubiak uses Smith-Njigba as well as former OC Ryan Grubb did.
Smith-Njigba appears to have become Seattle's WR1 and should be with the team for most of the next decade. Let's hope he doesn't feel the same way about any future offensive coordinators as he obviously does about Waldron.
