The Seahawks wasted no time rewarding reigning Offensive Player of the 12 months Jaxon Smith-Njigba with the most important wide receiver contract in NFL history this offseason.
Negotiations with fellow 2023 first-rounder Devon Witherspoon haven’t been as fruitful. The team submitted a suggestion to star cornerback three months ago, in response to ESPN’s Brady Henderson, but there was little movement in negotiations.
Witherspoon, 25, was the No. 5 overall pick in 2023 and immediately emerged as one of the vital impact cornerbacks within the league. He posted 16 passes defended, eight tackles for loss, three interceptions, and one interception (which he returned for a touchdown) as a rookie, earning a Pro Bowl nod and a fourth-place finish in Defensive Rookie of the 12 months voting. He was not quite as productive within the last two years by way of traditional counting stats, but he still received a league-high 90.1 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He was also chosen to the Pro Bowl in each seasons for his efforts leading the considered one of the league’s best secondaries.
That performance should position Witherspoon to interrupt into the highest of a cornerback market that has grown significantly within the last yr. Three players now sit at $30MM per yr or more with Trent McDuffie‘s $31MM AAV leading the pack.
Theoretically, landing on a number mustn’t be too difficult. Witherspoon’s contract should eclipse McDuffie’s; the one query is, by how much? The 2 sides appear to have very different answers to that query, as no deal is imminent, per Bleacher Report’s James Palmer.
One complicating factor is the Patriots’ contract negotiations with Christian Gonzalez, one other 2023 first-rounder who counts himself among the many league’s best corners. Gonzalez has not been quite as heralded as Witherspoon, so the latter remains to be expected to command a bigger deal, Palmer adds. Because of this, Witherspoon is perhaps waiting to see what Gonzalez gets to make sure he gets an appropriate raise over his contemporary.