Devon Witherspoon not worried about contract discussions with Seattle Seahawks
RENTON, WASHINGTON - JUNE 04: Devon Witherspoon #21 of the Seattle Seahawks works out during practice at Virginia Mason Athletic Center on June 04, 2026 in Renton, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - If the lack of a new contract was bothering Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, he wasn't up for sharing after practice on Tuesday.
Witherspoon, 23, has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons in Seattle. He was named the No. 1 cornerback in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus, and he's eligible for a contract extension entering his fourth season.
The backstory:
Unlike fellow 2023 first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who signed a new deal with the Seahawks early in the offseason, Witherspoon has yet to reach a new contract with Seattle.
"I'm not worried about that right now," Witherspoon said. "I'm out here focused on making plays and trying to get better day-by-day. We've got other stuff we're focused on and ultimately, we're trying to win games, so that's my focus."
Witherspoon has participated throughout training camp for Seattle and hasn't attempted to do a "hold-in." Under the most recent NFL CBA, players can no longer holdout in attempt to apply pressure for a new contract. However, some players have since taken the approach of showing up, but not practicing due to an undisclosed ailment that keeps them from participating.
Witherspoon hasn't elected to go down that road.
"We got a long season ahead of us, contract or not," Witherspoon said as to why practicing is important while awaiting a new deal. "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. That’s where my mind is at right now. I’m focused on what I need to do right now, I'm not really worried about anything else."
Witherspoon's contract was a focal point during the first episode of HBO's Hard Knocks last week. A clip from general manager John Schneider's office showed Schneider relaying that Witherspoon had been upset with an NFL Network report from Ian Rapoport. The report stated there was an offer on the table that would make him the highest-paid cornerback in the league and he wasn't accepting it.
Schneider appeared to be mad at the appearance that it was the team putting that information out to a reporter trying to apply public pressure on Witherspoon to accept the deal. Schneider said they had smoothed out the disagreement.
"He’s in a good spot now," Schneider said.
Hard Knocks then interviewed Witherspoon about the contract while he was driving near the team's Renton headquarters.
"Outside of the quarterback room we’ve got the hardest position on the field," Witherspoon said..
"It’s hard to guard these guys, especially when you can’t touch them past 5 yards. I mean like these guys are real talented, man. It’s just a hard job to play. So when you’ve got a guy that can really do like shut down a receiver or just like be versatile like I am, you don’t come across those guys often, for real. So when you’ve got a premier corner like that it’s just, you pay him. Like, please pay him. That’s all we saying."
Denzel Ward of the Cleveland Browns ($31.1 million/year), Trent McDuffie of the Los Angeles Rams ($31 million/year), Sauce Gardner of the Indianapolis Colts ($30.1 million/year) and Derek Stingley Jr. of the Houston Texans ($30 million/year) are the top of the cornerback market in the NFL. New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez – represented by the same agency as Witherspoon – is also up for a new top-of-the-market level deal as well.
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The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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