Derek Stingley of the Houston Texans likely just reset the cornerback market moving forward. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Stingley is signing an extension for three years and $90 million with $89 million of that guaranteed. The news should make Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon quite happy.
Stingley's rookie deal is up after 2025, and Houston had a fifth-year option, but the deal makes everyone happy and dismisses any potential contract drama with the cornerback. Witherspoon still has to play two more years before his rookie deal is up, but the cornerback market could grow even more before he is due a new deal.
While Stingley is more of a pure outside cornerback, Witherspoon and his agent can make the argument to the Seahawks that he is even more valuable in what Seattle wants to do defensively than what Stingley does in the Texans' scheme. Witherspoon is able to be moved around quite a bit which helps disguise alignments.
Seahawks' Devon Witherspoon has to be smiling at Derek Stingley's new deal with the Texans
Plus, as all Seahawks fans know, no matter where Witherspoon lines up, he is just as effective as anywhere else he might appear. His ability to create chaos with corner blitzes is remarkable. He also applies tight coverage now matter if he is blanketing a tight end or wide receiver.
What he has not yet done in his two years is consistently created turnovers, but neither did Stingley. Seattle's corner had one interception in his rookie season (that he turned into a 97-yard touchdown return), but Stingley had no picks in his first two years.
Through their first two seasons, Stingley and Witherspoon had comparable passer rating allowed numbers (Stingley's was slightly lower), and Stingley had a slightly better rate of missed tackles. But the Texans' corner had nowhere near the quarterback pressures that Witherspoon had (18 total pressures for Witherspoon against just one for Stingley).
While that last number is not normally important for cornerbacks, it is important in the Seahawks scheme. Witherspoon and the team know this.
Plus, Stingley's best season came in his third year, and the same could hold true for the Seahawks corner. If his coverage numbers get close to Stingley's third year, Witherspoon's expectations for a huge contract will be even higher. And they should.
Will Seattle pay its cornerback a contract close to Stingley's? Maybe not, and maybe more. There is another entire offseason until the Seahawks have to worry about a Witherspoon extension. The market value for corners could be higher by 2026, with a big thanks to what Stingley and Houston did in 2025. Witherspoon has to be salivating at his potential next deal that will begin as soon as 2027.