The Seattle Seahawks were set to enter the new NFL league year with three of their top seven defensive backs facing free agency. As of Monday afternoon, they had lost one and retained one. The third was still up for grabs.
In agreeing to terms with Josh Jobe, Seattle made clear just how far the former undrafted free agent out of Alabama had come. They initially picked him up just before the beginning of the 2024 season after the Philadelphia Eagles released him.
He ended up starting six games in ’24 and followed it up by supplanting Riq Woolen as the Seahawks’ starter opposite Devon Witherspoon for most of the 2025 championship season.
Seattle Seahawks lock down starting cornerback with three-year deal
General manager John Schneider agreed to terms with Jobe on a three-year/24 million dollar deal. That puts him into the mid-30s in terms of all corners, a very reasonable price for a CB2. For a little while at least, Jobe’s new contract pays him slightly more than his counterpart, Witherspoon.
Spoon is approaching the end of a rookie deal, which is scheduled to pay him just under that eight-million-dollar threshold in 2026. However, everyone expects Schneider to try and work out an extension which would include a major boost to the All-Pro’s income sooner rather than later.
Retaining Jobe provides the Seattle defense with much-needed continuity. Earlier on Monday, news broke that Mike Macdonald would be losing starting safety Coby Bryant to the Bears.
Seattle still has Julian Love at safety along with 2025 rookie phenom Nick Emmanworu and Ty Okada, who filled in admirably when called on during the ’25 season. But the roster was much thinner at corner, where both Jobe and Woolen were candidates to leave.
The Seahawks did not have any other surefire option on the roster to step in had they lost both corners. Schneider would have had to scramble to find a suitable partner for Witherspoon.
That is no longer a concern. Assuming Woolen does leave, the Hawks will look for depth and developmental prospects to add to the roster. But the need will not be dire. Jobe has proven he has the smarts and the toughness to function in Macdonald’s complex system.
He plays well in zones and is a solid tackler. He has the versatility to blitz on occasion. Though Jobe is primarily a perimeter corner, he took more than 100 snaps last year in the box or slot.
The rival Los Angeles Rams just reset the bar for cornerback salaries by giving Trent McDuffie a four-year deal at 31 million per-season. About a dozen corners earn 20 million or more at this point, and that number will only go up. Witherspoon will be getting a deal at the upper end of that range if Schneider can extend him.
Given those prices, 24 million over three years for a legitimate starter on a championship defense is a pretty good deal for both sides. It maintains continuity for both player and team. And it removes one more possible headache for Schneider, who can now turn his attention toward replacing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker at running back.
When you are the champions, other teams come after your players. Figuring out how to hold onto them – especially ones just entering their prime like the 27-year-old Jobe – is almost always a positive development.