RENTON, Wash. -- As the confetti had just finished falling on the Seattle Seahawks minutes after their victory in Super Bowl LX, NFL Films captured coach Mike Macdonald and cornerback Devon Witherspoon in a moment of elation.
In between bear hugs, Witherspoon called it "bulls---" that Macdonald had been snubbed for AP NFL Coach of the Year. Macdonald asked Witherspoon how many sacks he had that night against the New England Patriots, to which the star corner -- ever the unselfish team player -- responded that it didn't matter.
"I'm gonna ride with you always," Witherspoon said.
The two will be riding together for the foreseeable future now that Seattle has extended Witherspoon for four years and $132 million. He's under contract for the next six seasons at a total cost of around $158.3 million, with the new-money average of $33 million resetting the market at his position.
Witherspoon got paid. Will he now get unleashed in the defense? That is, will Macdonald turn him loose as a blitzer and send him after opposing quarterbacks like he did against Drake Maye and the Patriots in the Super Bowl?
It's a question worth asking given how much Witherspoon has impacted the game in that regard and how that skill set put him in position for his massive new deal. He is not the NFL's highest-paid cornerback because he possesses Derek Stingley Jr.'s elite ball skills or the super sticky coverage of Pat Surtain II or Christian Gonzalez. Witherspoon is one of the best players at his position for other reasons, like his instincts and anticipation, a relentless motor, a violent style that belies his 185-pound frame -- and when Macdonald moves him into the slot, his ability to get home as a blitzer.
"He plays in the trenches like he's a big guy," defensive lineman Leonard Williams said last season, "and I love to see that."
Macdonald said it was a testament to Witherspoon's love of football and commitment to his teammates that he practiced throughout the spring and summer despite his unsettled contract situation.
Though the deal took much longer than expected, no one batted an eye at the dollar amounts. Witherspoon, who has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons and was a second-team All-Pro in 2025, was always expected to set a new financial benchmark for cornerbacks even without the coverage metrics or the ball production of some of his peers.
Witherspoon has two career interceptions. (One was a pick-six.) But according to ESPN Research, his 36 passes defended are tied for 10th among cornerbacks with at least 1,000 defensive plays in coverage since 2023 (including playoffs). That total doesn't count the two Matthew Stafford passes he broke up in the end zone on consecutive plays late in the fourth quarter of last season's NFC Championship Game, with Seattle clinging to a four-point lead over the Los Angeles Rams.
"It doesn't matter the situation; he's playing it at top speed, top intent," Macdonald said. "That's how we want our football team to operate. There are plays earlier in the [championship game] that Spoon probably could have played better, but the mentality to just attack the next play all the time is probably what makes it so special. Then in both those [pass breakups], they were both extended plays where I think we were in man coverage on both of them. To be able to guard your man for that amount of time relentlessly, it's legendary type stuff."
Two weeks later, Witherspoon's blitzing helped swing the Super Bowl in Seattle's favor.
Macdonald sent him after Maye six times. The result: three pressures, one sack and another hit that set up Uchenna Nwosu's interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter -- the nail in the coffin of Seattle's 29-13 win. Had it not been for running back Kenneth Walker III and his 161 scrimmage yards, Witherspoon could have easily been voted the game's MVP.
Witherspoon's six pass-rush snaps that night were tied for the most of any game in his career and a big jump from the 1.5 he averaged during the regular season (which led to a half-sack). His average was 1.9 pass-rush snaps in 2023 and 2.4 in 2024 (4.0 sacks over those two seasons).
The drop-off was tied to where he lined up. After drafting Witherspoon No. 5 in 2023, former coach Pete Carroll and his staff played him outside in base situations and moved him inside in nickel packages, which put him closer to the action as a run defender and blitzer. Macdonald used Witherspoon similarly when he arrived in 2024. In each season, he played the CB slightly more in the slot than on the perimeter. But with Nick Emmanwori emerging as a force at nickelback, Witherspoon played almost twice as many snaps outside than in the slot.
That meant fewer blitzing opportunities -- until Super Bowl LX.
Macdonald answered in the affirmative when asked if he's inclined to blitz Witherspoon more going forward after seeing the way it impacted that game.
"Yes," Macdonald said. "He's a great corner. He's a great nickel. When Nick is available, Nick is also a great nickel. It's a great problem to have as a coach. How do you deploy your people to have success? All those instincts about timing and even beating guards, setting them up and beating backs in one-on-one pass-rush situations, it's not common for that skill set."
How does Witherspoon feel about the possibility of blitzing more?
"Whatever he want me to do, I'm going to be able to do it," he said. "So just let me know, Coach."
