The Seattle Seahawks' 2023 draft class is making a case as one of the best in team history. Both of the class's first-round picks are now under long-term contracts after winning a Super Bowl.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon, the No. 5 overall pick in 2023 and a three-time Pro Bowler, has agreed to terms with the Seahawks on a four-year, $132 million extension, making him the highest-paid cornerback in the league with an average annual salary of $33 million, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Saturday. Schefter added that Witherspoon's deal includes more than $101 million guaranteed.
The team later announced it had agreed to a new deal with Witherspoon.
Witherspoon's extension follows one handed out to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who received a four-year, $168.6 million extension in March. Like Smith-Njigba, Witherspoon now sits at the top of the pay scale for his position group. He joins the Los Angeles Rams' Trent McDuffie, the Indianapolis Colts' Sauce Gardner, the Houston Texans' Derek Stingley Jr. and the Cleveland Browns' Denzel Ward as cornerbacks making $30 million or more annually.
Witherspoon's new deal should also have a domino effect on the Seahawks' Super Bowl opponent, the New England Patriots. Fellow 2023 first-rounder Christian Gonzalez is seeking an extension from New England.
Witherspoon's contract took longer to work out than Smith-Njigba's, but Seattle has clearly identified who it is building around. Witherspoon joins the Houston Texans' Will Anderson Jr. as the only top-five selections from the 2023 class to have signed extensions. The two were outliers in a quarterback frenzy that highlighted the draft's top five that year. The Carolina Panthers' Bryce Young, Houston's C.J. Stroud and the Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson were taken No. 1, 2 and 4, respectively.
Witherspoon, 25, has made an instant impact. The Illinois product earned three straight Pro Bowl selections to begin his career. He
Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon Agrees to Four-Year $132M Deal