Russell Wilson’s contract negotiations seemingly has been overshadowed by the Tom Brady saga. But as La Canfora points out, the Seahawks don’t want to be the first team to offer a player a fully guaranteed deal, or even one that’s 80 percent guaranteed, which is why there’s a good chance Wilson is playing for $1.54 million next season. The fact that Wilson hasn’t accepted the offer suggests that it’s not quite rich enough.
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Wilson and his agent Mark Rodgers are looking for a deal that will surpass the $22 million per season that the Packers’ quarterback is making.
A source told ESPN’s John Clayton that Seattle is actually willing to give Wilson a deal similar to the one Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger received.
This was widely interpreted as Wilson turning down $21 million a year, and reported as such by numerous outlets.
Newton got $30 million upon signing and reportedly gets $23 million by the third day of the 2016 league year in the form of a $10 million bonus and his 2016 base salary of $13 million becoming guaranteed, money he will nearly certainly receive. This also explains why the Seahawks are hesitant to offer Russell more to enable him to realize his goal of becoming the highest paid quarterback in the NFL in the coming season.
Meanwhile, signing a deal now will cancel out Seattle’s option of using the franchise tag next spring. Each year after that, he’s paid around $17 million, with the full contract being for roughly five years and $103 million. LB Bruce Irvin is peeved Seattle chose not to pick up fifth-year option on rookie contract and has expressed disappointment in various ways during offseason.
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Cork Gaines with the Business Insider says there is only four players in the NFL that average a greater value more than $20.5 million annually. Wilson led the Seahawks into the Super Bowl, losing to the Patriots, last season. He should take the money now and set aside his ego, or else this could end up like the fate of another beloved Seattle hero who went to Texas and then New York to play baseball for the two highest contracts in history.
