The NFL season is still a few weeks away, but it seems that former Illinois football players are constantly front and center.
On Thursday night, the Illini had a handful of players out on the field competing or proving their worth in the NFL.
Fast forward two days, and on Saturday afternoon, one former Illinois football player was front and center because he just maxed out his bank account.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Devon Witherspoon reached an extension with the Seattle Seahawks to the tune of four years and $132 million dollars. He will be guaranteed a whopping $101 million of that extension.
ESPN sources: three-time Pro-Bowl CB Devon Witherspoon and the Seahawks reached agreement on a four-year, $132 million extension and includes over $101 million guaranteed that now makes him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/c7tsiz6KbJ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 15, 2026
Schefter goes on to report that this extension for Witherspoon officially makes him the highest-paid cornerback in the history of the NFL.
What this contract will also do is make Witherspoon the highest-paid player to ever come out of Illinois. He was already trending toward that with just the first few years of his career, but this will launch the star cornerback into a different stratosphere.
Devon Witherspoon doesn’t have much competition at Illinois when it comes to NFL money
It is interesting to think about the history of the Illinois football program sending players to the NFL. So many legends have come through the program.
The thing with most of those legends is that they played when there wasn’t a ton of money in the game.
Even the most recent Illinois players in the NFL, Witherspoon is blowing past them all. In 10 seasons, Ted Karras has career earnings of $33.8 million. He is probably the best and closest to Witherspoon currently.
Whitney Mercilus spent 10 years in the NFL and made $56.4 million. The most popular quarterback Illinois had come through the NFL was Jeff George. He had to play 14 seasons to make $34.1 million.
Through three seasons, Witherspoon has already made $26.7 million, which is a great number. His play has earned him more, though.
Witherspoon has now made the Pro Bowl all three seasons in the NFL. This includes two All-Pro selections. He has been a force on defense, with 32 pass deflections. His presence in the Seattle secondary was a huge reason they would go on to win the Super Bowl last season, too.
We are entering year four of the Witherspoon experience. His play has been incredible so far, and now he is taking all of his talent and cashing it in. The bank account got a lot bigger on Saturday.
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