The Seattle Seahawks have made Devin Witherspoon of Pensacola, Florida the highest paid cornerback in National Football League history. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN on Saturday, he signed a four-year contract worth $132 million.
Witherspoon will now make $33 million on average per season. As part of the contract, $100 million is guaranteed.
Prior to Saturday, the highest paid cornerback in NFL history was Trent McDuffie of Westminster, California. McDuffie was traded from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Los Angeles Rams on March 11, and then signed a four-year contract worth $124 million. As part of McDuffie’s contract, he is making $31 million on average.
Witherspoon spent the last three seasons with the Seahawks. In 43 games, he has had 249 combined tackles (170 solo tackles and 79 assisted tackles), 16 tackles for a loss, nine quarterback hits, two interceptions for 100 yards, one pick six, 32 pass deflections, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 4.5 sacks.
It is rather surprising that Witherspoon is the highest paid cornerback in NFL history when he only has two career interceptions. The first one was for 97 yards and was a pick six in a 24-3 Seahawks win over the New York Giants on October 2, 2023, and the second was for three yards and came in a 37-9 Seahawks win over the Atlanta Falcons on December 7. Also in the Seahawks win over the Falcons, Witherspoon had his only NFL career fumble recovery. Witherspoon’s forced fumble was in a 29-26 Seahawks win over the Washington Commanders on November 12, 2023.
This past season, Witherspoon had 72 combined tackles (48 solo tackles and 24 assisted tackles), two tackles for a loss, four quarterback hits, one interception for three yards, seven pass deflections, one fumble recovery and half a sack. The half a sack came in a 23-20 Seahawks win over the Arizona Cardinals on September 25.
Witherspoon was also part of the Seahawks team that won the Super Bowl this past February. In a 29-13 Seahawks win over the New England Patriots, Witherspoon had one sack, one tackle for a loss, four solo tackles, three quarterback hits and one pass deflection.
