Seahawks exercise fifth-year options on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Devon Witherspoon
Seattle, to no surprise, extends contracts of their two 2023 first-round picks by one year.
Fifth-year option season has officially begun. The Seahawks have announced that they have officially exercised the 2027 options on the first-round contracts signed in 2023 by receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Smith-Njigba, the 20th overall pick in 2023 and the 2025 NFL offensive player of the year, now has a fully-guaranteed salary of $23.
852 million for 2027. Witherspoon, taken fifth overall, will make $21. 161 million in 2027.
Both will be seeking new contracts, sooner than later. The fifth-year option gives them protection in the event of a fluke injury in the early portions of the 2026 offseason program, since the deadline for exercising the option doesn't arrive until May 1. Smith-Njigba has said he believes he should be the highest-paid receiver in the NFL .
That would require an extension with a new-money average in excess of $40 million. To get Smith-Njigba to a new-money APY of $41 million, the Seahawks would need to sign him to a five-year, $148. 4 million contract.