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Witherspoon Is the Highest-Paid Cornerback in NFL History
Saturday morning, before anybody had put on a helmet, the Seahawks and Devon Witherspoon agreed to a four-year, $132 million extension with more than $101 million guaranteed. At $33 million a year, no cornerback has ever been paid this much.
$33M
Witherspoon’s new average annual salary, the most ever for an NFL cornerback.
Remember the framing we got fed all summer? Seattle’s offer was below market. The Gonzalez standoff was going to drag into September. The roster bonus deadline came and went with nothing. Then the front office skipped the market entirely and set a new one. That is a specific kind of flex.
John Schneider went on Seattle Sports 710-AM before kickoff and called it “a win-win,” adding that Witherspoon will be here for the next six seasons. He is a three-time Pro Bowler, the fifth pick of the 2023 draft, and the reason opposing coordinators quietly stop calling anything toward the boundary.
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Seattle spent all summer being told its offer was below market. Then it went out and set the market.
Macdonald, who has spent two seasons building a defense around this guy, went with “Spoon is all the things” and then “he’s just infectious, and he loves the game.” Not the most polished sentence a head coach has ever produced. Also not wrong.
Here is the detail that tells you what Seattle just bought. He signed the biggest cornerback contract in league history in the morning, then spent Saturday night on the sideline in sweatpants, losing his mind over plays made by guys fighting for the 53rd roster spot.
SOURCES →
Preseason
The First Football Since February Was Extremely Ugly
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156
Total yards for the Seahawks in the preseason opener.
Drew Lock opened with a five-yard touchdown to Montorie Foster Jr. on the first possession and Seattle never scored again. Lock finished 9-of-13 for 40 yards. Jalen Milroe went 5-of-8 for 36 and was sacked three times, though he also ran for 36 yards and juked a linebacker on a third-and-11 that briefly made everybody sit up. Net passing yardage for the evening: 49.
The defense didn’t sack Joe Milton or Sam Howell once. Tyrice Knight had ten tackles and all ten came in the first half, which is its own kind of statement about who was still out there in the fourth quarter.
Macdonald wasn’t interested in preseason grading curves. “Right now our process needs to improve,” he said. Starters didn’t play, none of it counts, and he’s still right.
SOURCES →
AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Montorie Foster Jr., a substitute high-school teacher from Cleveland a couple of years ago, led Seattle with five catches for 36 yards and the only touchdown. He fought through a pass interference to catch it. Nobody in that building was working harder for a roster spot. Yahoo Sports
Undrafted receiver Rashad Rochelle ripped off a 52-yard punt return in the third quarter, the single most exciting thing that happened to the Seahawks all night. Special teams is how longshots get to August 30 with a job. MyNorthwest
Seattle got inside the Dallas 10 twice and came away with nothing, including a fourth-and-goal from the 1 that ended with Milroe on the ground. Two trips, zero points, and a very clear item for Monday’s meeting. Seahawks.com
Tackle Amari Kight left with a leg injury and Jared Ivey went into the medical tent before returning to the game. For a night that went that badly, walking out of it with the injury report basically blank is the win. SI
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Los Angeles spent the entire summer refusing to name a backup quarterback, then watched rookie Ty Simpson go 21-of-25 for 190 yards with two touchdown passes to Dean Connors in a 20-12 win at Kansas City. Stetson Bennett started. Simpson finished. Sean McVay now gets to spend two weeks explaining that there is no competition, in the calm, untroubled voice of a man who absolutely has a competition.
NINERS
San Francisco brought in Bryce Hall, Corey Mayfield Jr. and Troy Pride Jr. for cornerback tryouts on Friday, after Jack Jones (hand) and Marques Sigle (oblique) went down in a 19-13 preseason loss to Tennessee and Nate Hobbs was ruled out for a few weeks. Three defensive backs auditioning in one afternoon, and the Niners host us next Sunday. Bring the whole tryout list.
CARDINALS
Arizona put second-round rookie guard Chase Bisontis on injured reserve with a torn MCL, along with tight end Jameson Geers and linebacker Austin Keys, and signed three replacements. Because the move came before the roster-setting deadline, Bisontis is done for the year rather than eligible to return. The Cardinals reported to camp early to get a jump on everybody. They have now banked more August football than anyone and spent most of it in an MRI tube.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This Notre Dame defensive lineman was the first draft pick in Seahawks history, taken second overall in 1976, and was named NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year that season. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Steve Niehaus. Injuries limited him to 36 games and 20 starts across three seasons in Seattle, making the franchise’s very first selection also its first hard lesson.
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Spoon's paid, the offense scored seven, and it's still August. Balance. — The Rooster