Seahawks Make Devon Witherspoon Highest-Paid Cornerback in NFL History With $132 Million Deal

The Seattle Seahawks signed off on a franchise-altering commitment Saturday, agreeing to a four-year, $132 million contract extension with cornerback Devon Witherspoon, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been finalized.

ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the numbers: $132 million over four years, more than $101 million guaranteed, and a $33 million average annual value. That average makes Witherspoon the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, topping Cleveland's Denzel Ward, who had held the mark at $31.1 million per year, according to The Athletic. The total guarantee also surpasses the $124 million deal the Los Angeles Rams gave Trent McDuffie after trading for him earlier this offseason.

Seattle got the deal done hours before hosting the Dallas Cowboys in both teams' first preseason game of 2026, according to roundtable.io. That's the same day the Seahawks opened preseason play a year ago when they exercised Witherspoon's fifth-year option, locking his rights through 2027 even before this extension.

Witherspoon was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2023 draft, the highest selection of general manager John Schneider's 17-year tenure in Seattle. He has delivered: three straight Pro Bowl nods, a second-team All-Pro selection in 2025, and a central role in the Seahawks' Super Bowl LX win over the New England Patriots. In that 29-13 victory, Witherspoon recorded a sack, three quarterback hits and multiple pass breakups, one of which set up Uchenna Nwosu's game-sealing pick-six, according to NFL.com.

The raw interception numbers don't back up the price tag on paper. Witherspoon has just two picks in 43 career games, per the AP. But his value shows up elsewhere: 249 tackles, 32 passes defensed, 16 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, playing both outside corner and nickel. Linebacker Ernest Jones IV called him "a walking Hall of Famer" after the Super Bowl, according to Seahawks.com.

This is the second big-money bet Seattle has placed on its 2023 draft class. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, taken 15 picks after Witherspoon in the same round, signed a four-year extension in March. The Athletic put that deal at $168.6 million; U.S. News, citing the AP, reported it at $168.8 million with $120 million guaranteed. Either way, Smith-Njigba is currently the NFL's highest-paid receiver, and Witherspoon is now the highest-paid corner. Seattle has now extended three first-round picks from the 2022 and 2023 draft classes, including left tackle Charles Cross, after not extending a single first-rounder during Schneider's first 12 drafts, from 2010 through 2021.

Witherspoon didn't hold in during the negotiation. "We got a long season ahead of us, contract or not," he said, according to Yahoo Sports. "We still got to play football at the end of the day. We have to be out there and be prepared. If you're not practicing, you're not getting ready for the season because everybody else in the league is practicing and they're getting better." Head coach Mike Macdonald praised that approach, calling it unusual for a player in his position, per roundtable.io.

The deal has ripple effects beyond Seattle. New England's Christian Gonzalez, also a 2023 first-round pick, is seeking his own extension from the Patriots, and Witherspoon's new number gives his camp fresh leverage, according to Yahoo Sports and NFL.com. Houston's Will Anderson Jr. is the only other top-five pick from that class to have signed an extension so far; the top of that draft, Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson, was dominated by quarterbacks, none of whom have secured second contracts yet.

Is Seattle overpaying for a corner with only two career interceptions? Shutdown corners often rack up low interception totals precisely because quarterbacks stop throwing at them, and Witherspoon's tackle numbers, pass-breakup totals and playoff production suggest a player opposing coordinators actively schemed around last postseason. The Seahawks clearly bet on tape over turnover totals.

The contract still needs to be formally finalized and announced by the team. As of Saturday afternoon, it remained a reported agreement sourced to Schefter and an anonymous person briefed on the terms, not yet a signed, filed document. Seattle's preseason opener against Dallas at Lumen Field went forward as scheduled the same day the deal came together.