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It is an NFL business fact that when its best players agree to new contracts, they break records as well as the bank. That’s the case with Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who on Saturday became the league’s highest-paid cornerback.
Witherspoon agreed to a four-year deal worth $132 million that includes more than $101 million in guarantees, according to a source. And this:
It not only makes Witherspoon the league’s highest paid player at his position today but also all-time.
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Witherspoon’s deal will average $33 million per season on an annual average basis which beats the $31 million per season Denzel Ward got from the Cleveland Browns last month.
That’s not all.
Witherspoon, a Pro Bowl selection all three years he’s been in the NFL, is getting paid to stop opposing wide receivers and quarterbacks. And this deal pays him more than many opposing wide receivers and quarterbacks.
Consider that Witherspoon’s deal pays more on an annual average than Aaron Rodgers gets from the Pittsburgh Steelers on an annual average – $22 million.
It pays more than Kirk Cousins gets from the Las Vegas Raiders – $11.3 million.
And while it doesn’t eclipse what Baker Mayfield ($33.3 million) gets from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his total guarantees of $101 million are more than twice Mayfield’s $50 million in total guarantees.
Witherspoon’s deal is in quarterback territory and Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold can attest to that.
Darnold last season signed a deal that averages $33.5 million per season with $55 million in guarantees.
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Witherspoon blew the guarantees figure away. And Witherspoon is obviously in the same neighborhood on an annual average.
The business of the NFL is thriving and these deals are proof.
And it is not likely to stop.
Witherspoon’s deal signals that another, likely bigger, contract is en route for a cornerback across the country.
The New England Patriots and cornerback Christian Gonzalez have been negotiating a new deal for months. Patriots owner Robert Kraft is on record as saying the Patriots were offering to make Gonzalez the highest paid cornerback in the NFL.
It was a race to see whether Gonzalez and the Patriots or Witherspoon and the Seahawks would agree to a contract first.
Witherspoon won that race. And you know what spoils go to the loser?
Gonzalez will now be aiming to surpass Witherspoon’s contract – because for the best of the best in the NFL, the next contract is usually the biggest.
FOLLOW ARMANDO SALGUERO ON X: @ARMANDOSALGUERO