John Schneider pulled the curtain back on how NFL insider reporting reverberates throughout both an NFL locker room and front office.
The Seahawks’ general manager revealed that a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport about the team’s contract extension discussions with star cornerback Devon Witherspoon resulted in the cornerback being spooked and the team having to take steps to defuse the situation.
“Spoon got wigged out … because Ian Rapaport reported that we were making him the highest-paid guy and he’s not accepting it, dah, dah dah,” Scneider said on “Hard Knocks” during a meeting with head coach Mike Macdonald and another individual. “I called Ian and was like, ‘Hey, man, you need to call the agent and tell him that’s not f–king coming from us.’ (Seattle vice president of player affairs Maurice “Mo” Kelly) talked to Spoon, everything’s fine. He gets it, he’s in a good spot now.”
Hard Knocks Ep. 1: #Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon was “wigged out” by @RapSheet’s report that said Witherspoon was declining a record-setting contract offer.
John Schneider then called Rapoport to have him tell Witherspoon’s agent that the report wasn’t from the team.
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— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) August 5, 2026
Information leaking to NFL insiders is nothing new, but how the information is presented can have a bearing on how negotiations unfold.
Rapaport reported on July 21 how Patriots star cornerback Christian Gonzalez is seeking a contract extension but noted that Witherspoon is also in the market for new money.
He said the Seahawks offered the defensive back at least $30 million per season in a deal that could make him the league’s highest-paid cornerback, but there “no resolution yet.”
That report doesn’t explicitly state that Witherspoon rejected the proposal, but one can imply that the cornerback is the one holding up the deal if the money was in the range Rapaport reported it to be.
The idea of Withersoon rejecting the proposal led to the chain reaction of Schneider having to call the NFL insider and then have the staffer talk to Witherspoon.
Cleveland’s Denzel Ward is the league’s highest-paid corner at $31.1 million per season.
“Outside of the quarterback room we’ve got the hardest position on the field,” Witherspoon said during “Hard Knocks,” per the Seattle Times.
“It’s hard to guard these guys, especially when you can’t touch them past 5 yards. I mean like these guys are real talented, man. It’s just a hard job to play. So when you’ve got a guy that can really do like shut down a receiver or just like be versatile like I am, you don’t come across those guys often, for real. So when you’ve got a premier corner like that it’s just, you pay him. Like, please pay him. That’s all we saying.”
The sides have yet to come to an agreement, but Schneider did not indicate any frustration.
“We’ve had negotiations over the last 17 years that haven’t been real fun, but every individual’s different. It’s the person, right?” he said during the episode, per the Seattle Times.
“Spoon’s like this great high energy, vibrant guy. We all have the same goal in mind and we’d love to get that done, because Spoon’s a great player.”
