Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has officially entered Madden royalty.
EA Sports awarded Smith-Njigba a 99 overall rating in Madden NFL 27, the highest rating available in the game and the first 99 of his NFL career. He also received a custom glass football containing his own player-issued Topps 99 Club card.
The recognition follows a record-setting season in which Smith-Njigba emerged as one of the NFL’s premier offensive players and helped Seattle reach Super Bowl LX.
It also represents a dramatic rise within the game. EA Sports’ Madden NFL 26 database listed Smith-Njigba at 95 overall. He has now climbed four points in one year to reach the franchise’s maximum rating.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba Joins an Exclusive Madden 27 Group
Smith-Njigba is one of six players selected for Madden NFL 27’s initial 99 Club.
He joins Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Los Angeles Rams edge rusher Myles Garrett, Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Among wide receivers, Smith-Njigba shares the game’s top rating with Chase. That places the Seahawks star above every other receiver at launch and confirms how dramatically his standing has changed since the previous edition.
Smith-Njigba was already Seattle’s highest-rated player in Madden NFL 26 at 95 overall. His jump to 99 now separates him from the rest of the Seahawks’ roster and gives Seattle one of the few players in the entire league to receive a perfect rating.
The honor is backed by far more than projection or potential.
Smith-Njigba led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards during the 2025 regular season while setting Seahawks records with 119 receptions and 1,793 yards. He scored 10 receiving touchdowns and earned first-team All-Pro recognition. Seattle also noted that his yardage total was the eighth highest for a single season in NFL history.
That production came in an offense that attempted only 481 passes, the fourth-fewest in the league, making his individual volume even more striking.
EA Sports and Topps Give Smith-Njigba a New Kind of Trophy
This year’s 99 Club members are receiving more than the customary announcement.
EA Sports partnered with Topps and artist Victor Solomon to design a glass football trophy for each player. Inside Smith-Njigba’s trophy is a specially created player-issued card carrying the Madden 99 Club branding and images of the Seahawks receiver.
The collaboration combines three audiences that do not always overlap: NFL fans, Madden players and sports-card collectors.
EA Sports also announced that Madden 99 Club inserts will appear in a future Topps Football product. That means the concept will extend beyond the six presentation trophies and eventually become available to collectors, although the specific Topps release and product date were not disclosed.
For Smith-Njigba, the physical trophy gives lasting form to an achievement that normally exists primarily inside the game. It also arrives at a moment when his status has shifted from promising young receiver to the centerpiece of Seattle’s passing attack.
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Smith-Njigba’s 99 Rating Raises the Standard for 2026
A perfect Madden rating does not affect anything on the field, but it illustrates how Smith-Njigba is now viewed across the sport.
Entering his fourth NFL season, he is no longer being evaluated against expectations attached to his draft position or his first two years in Seattle. He is being measured against Chase and the NFL’s other established superstars.
The next challenge is maintaining that position.
Defenses will enter the 2026 season building game plans specifically around slowing Smith-Njigba after his league-leading campaign. Seattle, meanwhile, will need to continue creating opportunities for its No. 1 receiver while dealing with the heightened attention that accompanies a historic year.
Madden NFL 27 has already delivered its verdict: Smith-Njigba begins the new season at the top.
Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba Gets Madden 27’s Best Honor with Topps Twist