Seahawks get $76 million contract prediction on Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon
admin_news
Seahawks get $76 million contract prediction on Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Seattle Seahawks dominantly won Super Bowl 60 over the New England Patriots, and this offseason, they have lost a lot of key players.
Kenneth Walker III, Coby Bryant, Riq Woolen, and Boye Mafe have all left for new teams. Part of that is the Super Bowl tax, but there are two other reasons why they aren't bringing everyone back.
With the looming contracts for Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon on the horizon, ESPN's Bill Barnwell predicted that the combined value of both players on their new deals will reach around $76 million, or nearly $40 million each.
Seahawks get $76M prediction on Witherspoon, JSN
"The combined going rate for JSN and Witherspoon on their new deals should be something in the ballpark of $76 million per-year," Barnwell predicts.
This $76 million number isn't the total amount of money that Smith-Njigba and Witherspoon will get on their new deals. That's just how much they're likely to make in one season.
Smith-Njigba, coming off an All-Pro and Offensive Player of the Year season for Seattle with 1,793 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 119 receptions, is surely looking for top-of-the-market money.
That could look to be around the $40 million per-year range. While cornerback contracts aren't nearly as ridiculously high as the wide receiver contracts, Witherspoon is also sure to land a massive new deal as well.
More: Josh Jobe to re-sign with Seahawks on three-year, $24 million deal
He had a Pro Bowl season once again, making him 3-for-3 in making Pro Bowls in his NFL career so far despite playing just 12 games. He also earned second-team All-Pro honors this year as well.
Trent McDuffie of the Los Angeles Rams signed a $124 million four-year deal, meaning that if Witherspoon want's to reset the market, which he can justify with how good he's been, the Seahawks would need to beat $31 million per-year for their star cornerback.
Combining the two contracts together will have Seattle spending around $76 million per-year on their top wide receiver and cornerback.
That's a ton of money to invest in just two positions. But, with how good both are, and the seasons they're coming off of, it's hard to justify not spending so much on these 2023 first-round draft picks,
