Projected signing bonus for Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq with the NY Jets

It's safe to say that 2025 was a money-making season for Oregon Ducks tight end Kenyon Sadiq, who nearly doubled his career receiving yards and nearly tripled his career touchdown count. In total, he caught 51 passes for 560 yards and eight touchdowns, showcasing his game-changing athleticism on his way to being named a finalist for the Mackey Award.

It's all led the New York Jets to select Sadiq with the No. 16 pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, where he'll receive a standard first-round contract of four years with a fifth-year option. The entire contract is projected to be worth $22.3 million with a $12.7 million signing bonus, per Spotrac.

It completes a strong career in which Sadiq put himself in the conversation as the greatest tight end in Ducks history and certainly one of the most talented, endearing himself to Oregon fans with his impressive hurdling abilities and contested touchdown catches.

Sadiq was almost certainly making a large sum of money during his time in Eugene, especially in 2025, but the millions upon millions that he's about to sign for is generational money.

And if he excels in the NFL, at this point an expectation as a first-round pick, he'll sign a second contract for a much higher number. Currently, San Francisco 49ers' George Kittle is the highest-paid tight end at over $19 million a year, but look for that number to rise even more in the coming years, as it always does with inflation.

From a talented athlete from Idaho Falls, ID, to a multi-millionaire in the NFL, it's hard to envision any better roadmap for Sadiq's time with the Ducks.

He isn't the only former Oregon standout that may be drafted on Day 1 of the draft, as safety Dillon Thieneman and guard Emmanuel Pregnon are also hoping to hear their names called on Thursday night.