The Seahawks are trading cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon to the Steelers (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). In exchange, the Steelers will send a 2023 fifth-round choice to Seattle.
Witherspoon left the rival 49ers to join the Seahawks in March. A third-round pick in the 2017 draft, Witherspoon turned in a strong rookie campaign for SF. Then, he regressed in his second pro season. He was benched several times in 2018, and he ultimately graded out as the worst full-time corner that year, per Pro Football Focus’ metrics.
He did show some signs of life in his platform season, however. Though he started just four games and appeared in only 32% of San Francisco’s defensive snaps in 2020 — both career-low marks — PFF considered him a top-10 corner in terms of coverage ability. In addition to the Seahawks, the Jets, Broncos, and Panthers also showed interest in Witherspoon. Now, he’ll try to fortify the Steelers’ secondary.
Good news: even with his past struggles Witherspoon is an upgrade for a shaky Steeler secondary, as is Karl Joseph who will reportedly be activated in a few days.
Bad news: wow, are the Steelers burning through future draft picks at an alarming rate.
I can agree about future draft picks but this secondary has been suspect for a while now. Haden has lost a step and Edmunds? Just never saw him as an answer. Witherspoon and Joseph are huge upgrades but the O-line still seems to be problematic
Edmunds only crime is he is not a pro bowler and doesn’t create turnovers. He is a solid player.
No offense, but those draft picks are 5th and 6th rounds… typically those picks aren’t even necessarily a lock to make the roster,
Ya know….JS and PC picked Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor from the 5th rd!!! JK, you’re right. For every Sherm theres a Tye Smith or a Jimmy Staten!
I hope we see more of our 2020 picks Alton Robinson and Freddie Swain this season. I never understood why we stopped throwing to Swain last yr.
Bad news is that Buffalo is going to take a flamethrower to that straw house.
The secondary is a concern but the front 7 is very strong. As long as Buffalo can handle the pressure from the front then yes they should burn the house down.
Don’t understand this from a Seahawks perspective.
They like the other 4 or 5 CB’s that are ahead of him on the depth chart. SEA would rather not have a 4mil/yr player riding the bench all season. Traded a 6th rd pick for Sidney Jones who they prefer to Witherspoon. Then acquired a 5th rd pick from PIT for someone who wasn’t going to see the field. Saved some cap room, moved a player who they decided wasn’t a good fit, and acquired the draft pick and superior player in the process.
What makes him a superior player other than your opinion? Obviously SEA thought highly enough to pay him that much, just because he didn’t fit in the system doesn’t mean someone is less superior
Seattle obviously feels Jones is superior to Witherspoon. That is what my previous comment is based on. It wasn’t too long ago that Witherspoon was ranked dead last among all qualified CB’s in PFF rankings. So by that statistical logic, everyone/anyone is better than Witherspoon. Witherspoon is a supreme athlete whose physical skills have not translated to actual success. They took a flyer on him, given his abilities but after watching him in training camp and 3 preseason games it was determined that he was going to be about 4th or 5th on the depth chart. That’s all.
I agree. He’s not good at all and he gets burned all the time you’ll see Pittsburg fans, he sucks! Coming from a 49er fan I was so happy to see him go! Kudos to the Shehawks for getting a return instead of cutting him. Robbery! Lol
Interesting that the Seahawks are listed as a team that showed interest in Witherspoon.
They are referrin to 2020.
You have to have interest to sign him
From one S-hole to another
What a well thought out and intelligent post. You get a gold star run upstairs and tell mommy she will be thrilled I am sure.
James Pierre should still be ahead of him on the depth charts, no?
To start with, yes probably. The guy who is in trouble is Justin Layne, and good thing too because he has been incredibly disappointing.
Layne is awful
Sort of shows the flaws in the PFF rankings, as a guy his age doesn’t gain/lose/gain ability from one year to the next. Either he has good coverage skills or he doesn’t.