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Seattle Seahawks: Russell Wilson, team win deal in their own ways

By Kevin Parvizi

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Contract talks between the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson featured plenty of public angling, to the point where some fans were starting to feel the heat, especially when Wilson made statements about wanting to be paid the highest-paid quarterback on an annual basis. Wilson won’t get that wish, but it’s hard to call him anything but a winner. The same goes for the Seahawks due to Wilson’s youth, importance, and the fact that his low bust potential and good health through three years allow them to go the “big guaranteed money” route as a way of lowering the total possible value of the contract.

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According to the MMQB’s Peter King, Wilson and the Seahawks have agreed to a four-year deal worth $87.6 million, meaning that Wilson will make $21.9 million per year. That just barely under the $22 million per year that Green Bay Packers reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers makes per season, and he is, of course, the league’s highest-paid signal-caller (as he should be).

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So while the Seahawks were able to avoid making Wilson the highest-paid player at his position, they weren’t able to stop him from making a higher percentage of guaranteed money than any other quarterback. Look, everybody knew that it would be impossible for Wilson to make his “dream” fully guaranteed deal, as even Rodgers “only” has 49.1% of his contract guaranteed among franchise quarterbacks who have signed new deals.

Wilson’s deal, as per King again, comes with $60 million in guaranteed money and a $31 million signing bonus. Based on numbers provided by Arash Markazi, Wilson ties with Cam Newton for the third-most guaranteed money for a QB, but it will be interesting to see how much of his deal is fully guaranteed in addition to his $31 million signing bonus.

Considering that Wilson hasn’t missed a game in any of his three seasons and has been a top-ten quarterback in each of the past two seasons, it’s safe to say that he’s earning his keep. Detractors point to the fact that he gets a great buffer zone via one of history’s best defenses and arguably the league’s best running back in Marshawn Lynch, but it’s easy to forget that he played through the 2014 season without a true No. 1 receiver. Heck, Golden Tate wasn’t used as a real No. 1 guy in 2013 either, so Jimmy Graham will be the first real top target Wilson will get to work with.

He also doesn’t play behind a top-notch offensive line, which makes his rushing ability, vision, and escapability all the more important for Seattle. But Wilson’s best trait as a 26-year-old, fourth-year pro is his decision-making, because it goes hand-in-hand with his elite rushing and arm talent. He knows when to leave the pocket, when to pull the trigger, when to run, when to slide, and when to go for the long ball. Wilson’s awareness has always been excellent, and it’s why the Seahawks can have so much faith in him.

I mean, Wilson has had completion percentages of 64.1%, 63.1%, and 63.1% in his first three seasons with just ten, nine, and seven interceptions. Not only have his picks steadily gone down, but his rushing yards and passing yards have gone up. As Wilson’s importance to the Seahawks has increased, his mistakes have only gone down, and that is, again, despite the fact that Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse were his top two receivers last year. Nothing against Baldwin, who is an underrated No. 2-worthy receiver, but even Cam Newton had Greg Olsen and Kelvin Benjamin last season.

Russell Wilson deserves his contract based on his age and body of work, but it still doesn’t make him any less of a winner. Nobody expected him to leave Seattle under any circumstances, so while he did have the leverage, it’s a huge win for him to get this kind of a deal before the self-imposed deadline.

Now, you may say “this kind of a deal” isn’t much, since he isn’t the highest-paid QB in the NFL despite the fact that the constant rise in contracts dictates that he should be paid more than Rodgers (even if Rodgers) is better. After all, Wilson’s just 26, so he still has top-five QB potential, right?

I won’t disagree with those points, but it is important to understand that Wilson is a big winner because of his age. With so much guaranteed money coming down the pipes in a deal that barely pays him under Rodgers, he basically cannot be cut. A $31 million signing bonus with $60 million guaranteed of $87.6 million is a whopping sum, and it only gets better when you consider that he’s making $15 million in guaranteed money per year.

It’s unclear if this is an extension or a new deal that erases his old contract that would pay him just about $1.5 million this year, and the difference between them both is significant. It looks like the latter will be the case, but that’s still OK. It will allow Wilson to hit the free-agent market as a 31-year-old, meaning that he can make one last big payday. Due to his arm talent and already-excellent decision-making, Wilson could be a much better QB at 31 who still has quality rushing ability despite his age, as he’ll be even more mature at that point in time.

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) talks with Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll during a timeout in the second quarter of Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks had to get a deal done with Wilson before the start of the season (or training camp, for that matter), so credit to them for that. With Kam Chancellor holding out, and Bobby Wagner and others looking for massive contracts as elite players, the Seahawks will have tough decisions to make.

Paying Wilson big money makes them less flexible, but they come out winners in their own rights by giving him plenty of guaranteed money to keep the total amount of money as low as possible. That will give them more cap space to pay Wagner and others, and they can also now wield the franchise tag on Wagner in 2016 with Wilson’s deal fully squared away. They also seemingly get to keep his old 2015 deal of about $1.5 million, so that should be a nice one-year win for Seattle.

Wilson offers little bust potential going forward, so he’s worth the guaranteed cash. And even if paying him causes other star players to leave Seattle, Wilson, as he showed us last season while playing with a below-average group of pass-catchers, is the single most valuable player to the Seahawks. As a star quarterback, he will end up covering for those losses in the future, especially as he continues to grow into a dominant and intelligent dual-threat QB who can make every single throw in the book.

Both sides had to make compromises, but they should be happy with this one. The Seahawks won’t have to pay Wilson as much money per year as he would have made on the open market, while RW3 gets to hit free agency again a bit earlier and has the re-assurance of netting plenty of guaranteed money. He and Newton both make $60 million in guarantees, but Newton makes $3 million less in guaranteed money per year.

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