The Seattle Seahawks didn't need to add many pieces to their Super Bowl-winning roster. Instead, they would focus most of their offseason efforts on getting long-term deals done with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon.
Both of them earned their stripes as budding stars in these three years in the league, and with JSN already signed, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before Witherspoon also put pen to paper. So far, that hasn't been the case.
The clock keeps ticking, and the best young cornerback in the game still hasn't gotten a new deal. Nonetheless, just because there haven't been many, if any, updates, that doesn't mean they won't get it done eventually.
The Seattle Seahawks will pay Devon Witherspoon in due time
There's absolutely no doubt that Witherspoon will have a new deal by Week 1, and not just because of him. See, whatever happens in Seattle will have direct repercussions in Foxborough, as Christian Gonzalez is also waiting for an extension of his own.
That's relevant because Gonzalez and Witherspoon are represented by the same agency, so it's in their best interests to reach an agreement soon. NFL insider Albert Breer reported that Gonzalez's camp will use Witherspoon's extension as the floor for his new deal with the New England Patriots, so they certainly want to speed things up:
"That agency that's representing both Witherspoon and Gonzalez is thinking that they're gonna get Witherspoon done first, and there's two reasons why," Breer said on NBC's Early Edition. "One, Seattle's been way more aggressive with signing guys, and we've seen what they did with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, so they've got history of it. The second thing is Seattle's for sale, and the Seahawks' ownership is gonna change here probably in the next two or three months.
Whether Gonzalez should make more money than Witherspoon is a debate for another day. Both are superstars in the making and should be compensated as such, and it will be just a matter of time before someone else resets the market again.
At the end of the day, this might just be about the deal's language, guarantees, or ego. They are always looking to one-up the previous guy. Whatever the case, the Seahawks want to get this done as much as Witherspoon, and they won't risk ruining their relationship with one of their budding stars.
Witherspoon is this team's future. He and Nick Emmanwori can be the most dominant and deadliest defensive back duo in the game, and the Seahawks won't do anything to jeopardize that. This is just a holdup, but there aren't any real indications that this deal won't get done.
And even if that were to be the case, which, again, it won't, Witherspoon still has two years left in his deal if they count the club option for year five. He'll be in Seattle for years to come; it's just a matter of technicalities at this point.
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