SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks have agreed to a four-year, $132 million contract extension with Devon Witherspoon that will make him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL at an average of $33 million a year, a source confirmed to The Seattle Times Saturday morning.

The deal includes $101 million guaranteed and was first reported by The NFL Network and ESPN.

Witherspoon, 25, was already under contract through 2027, so the new deal means he is tied to the Seahawks through the 2031 season.

The new-money average per year puts Witherspoon ahead of recently signed Cleveland Browns corner Denzel Ward, who signed a two-year, $62.2 million deal on July 28. He's also ahead of former Washington standout Trent McDuffie, who signed a new deal worth $31 million a year with the Los Angeles Rams in March after being acquired in a trade with Kansas City. Ahmad “Sauce" Gardner of the Colts is next at $30.1 million, followed by Derek Stingley Jr. of Houston at $30 million.

Witherspoon's reign at the top may not last long. Witherspoon and New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez are each represented by the WIN Sports Group, which has been negotiating deals for each player concurrently. There's speculation that with Witherspoon's contract done, the New England Patriots and Gonzalez will now reach a deal that might be just a little bit richer.

Regardless, the contract marks a big raise for Witherspoon and security for well into the future.

Witherspoon had been set to make a $10.1 million base salary in 2026 on the last year of his standard four-year rookie contract and $21.161 million in 2027 on a fifth-year option the team picked up in March.

There had been speculation the deal would get done before camp or early into it.

Instead, talks dragged through the first three weeks of camp, during which time Witherspoon made something of a plea to the Seahawks on “Hard Knocks” to get the deal done, saying, “When you’ve got a premier corner like that it’s just, you pay him.” Witherspoon, though, had attended every meeting and practice, voluntary and mandatory, during the talks, earning the admiration of coach Mike Macdonald. The deal ended up being done on the morning Seattle will play its preseason opener against Dallas at Lumen Field.

The contract has been in the making since last spring when the Seahawks began seriously negotiating with Witherspoon, whom the team selected fifth overall in 2023 with a pick acquired from the Denver Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade.

The Seahawks signed receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba — who was taken 20th overall in that same draft — to a four-year extension worth more than $41 million a year that keeps him with the team through the 2031 season in late March and began working on a deal of a similar structure with Witherspoon.

With Witherspoon's contract done, the Seahawks have two young pillars of the team — one on offense, one on defense, each the highest-paid at their position — locked up into the next decade.

Witherspoon has been named to the Pro Bowl all three seasons as a Seahawk and last year was also named to the AP All-Pro second team.

He was named as one of the top-50 players in franchise history last fall after just two seasons with the team, a designation he amplified with standout play in the postseason that included breaking up a fourth-down pass in the end zone that helped clinch the NFC Championship Game win over the Rams and turning in a sack and three quarterback hits in the Super Bowl win over New England.

One of Witherspoon's QB hits helped force an interception by teammate Uchenna Nwosu that he returned for a touchdown that helped seal the 29-13 win over the Patriots.

Along the way, Witherspoon has become one of the acknowledged leaders on defense, and specifically in a secondary that last year emerged as one of the best in the NFL.

Witherspoon’s versatility to play outside corner — and typically on the more-critical left side — as well as in the slot has proved a key in allowing Macdonald to devise defensive schemes that have flummoxed opponents the last two seasons, and particularly in 2025 when the Seahawks allowed the fewest points in the NFL.

Macdonald has often called Witherspoon a “force multiplier" and “an elite competitor" and noted how his constant commentary during practices helps bring “energy out of everybody. He (gets) the guys going."

“I don’t think there’s a player on the team he (Macdonald) loves more than Spoon, safety Julian Love said last season.

Now the relationship is set to continue for years to come.

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