Last year’s Super Bowl participants are both trying to lock up their star cornerbacks with long-term extensions before the start of the regular season.
But the Seahawks’ negotiations with Devon Witherspoon and the Patriots’ with Christian Gonzalez are intrinsically tied together. Both players were drafted in the first round of the 2023 draft – Witherspoon at No. 6 overall, Gonzalez at No. 18 – and both are represented by WIN Sports Group.
Witherspoon’s contract talks with Seattle are “further along,” per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, including an offer worth more than $30MM per year. Trent McDuffie‘s $31MM AAV deal currently tops the positional market, but Rapoport adds that Witherspoon’s finalized extension will likely make him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
The 25-year-old certainly has a strong claim to that status. He has earned Pro Bowl nods in each of his three NFL seasons, and in 2025, he received second-team All-Pro recognition for leading the Seahawks’ top-ranked defense to a Super Bowl win over Gonzalez’s Patriots. Witherspoon’s impact is amplified by his versatility and physicality in the slot, where he has graded out as one of the league’s best run-defending and pass-rushing cornerbacks, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
A Witherspoon extension should set the market for Gonzalez and quickly lead to a similar agreement between him and the Patriots, Rapoport continues. Gonzalez was named a second-team All-Pro in 2024 and received his first Pro Bowl berth last season, making his resume slightly lighter than Witherspoon’s. But he still played a crucial role in New England’s run to the Super Bowl and profiles as one of the league’s preeminent shutdown cornerbacks on the boundary, so he should still reach the $30MM mark. Signing after Witherspoon could even allow Gonzalez to match or even eclipse his number. Deals for both players are expected to be struck by Week 1.
Rapoport also mentions Browns Pro Bowler Denzel Ward as another cornerback seeking a new deal who could be impacted by extensions for the 2023 first-rounders. Ward’s current contract, signed back in 2022, is worth just $20.1MM per year, and his play has only improved since then with three Pro Bowls in the last three seasons. Given the explosion in cornerback pay over the last two offseasons, the 2018 No. 4 pick is well-positioned for a solid raise before the season, especially if Witherspoon and/or Gonzalez put pen to paper in the coming weeks.
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