Seattle Seahawks: No discussions with Russell Wilson on new deal
By Samuel Teets
The Seattle Seahawks still haven’t approached Russell Wilson about a new contract. Wilson’s current deal ends after the 2019 season.
Last week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Seattle Seahawks have not discussed a long-term deal with star quarterback Russell Wilson. 2016 was the first year of Wilson’s current deal, which runs through 2019 (four years) and is worth $87.6 million. Quarterbacks are setting records for the largest contracts in history almost every year now. It will be interesting to see what kind of astronomical money Wilson demands.
Even though talks haven’t started yet, Seahawks fans have no reason to worry. It’s hard to see Wilson, who has such a calm demeanor, getting upset about his contract, let alone considering leaving Seattle.
The Seahawks were the ones who drafted him in the third round back in 2012 after all. He’s had so much success with the team and Pete Carroll. It’s hard to imagine that he could just walk away from that. Besides, even if a deal doesn’t get done for some reason, the Seahawks would surely use the franchise tag on Wilson. That can be a slippery slope, though — just ask Kirk Cousins.
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Wilson is the Seahawks all-time leader in completion percentage (minimum 100 attempts), passing touchdowns, quarterback rating (minimum 100 attempts), fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives. He’s third all-time in passing attempts, completions and yards in team history.
His 75 regular season wins are also a team record, and he’s reached the mark in just seven seasons. Wilson has also taken Seattle to two of its three Super Bowl appearances and has the franchise’s only victory in the game. All of this makes him the best quarterback in team history. So you can bet he’ll stay with the Seahawks, but it’s going to be costly.
Last year, a couple of quarterbacks signed record-breaking deals. Cousins signed a three-year, $84 million contract with Minnesota. Aaron Rodgers signed a four-year, $134 million extension with Green Bay. Jimmy Garoppolo signed a five-year, $137.5 million extension with San Francisco.
The year before that Matthew Stafford signed a five-year $135 million deal and Derek Carr got a similar deal for five years, $125 million. All of these deals are worth at least $25 million a year and the deals from 2018 are all worth even more than that.
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Also, consider the success Wilson has in comparison to Cousins and Garoppolo. He wins more, he’s more versatile, he’s won more awards and he’s just a better overall quarterback. Wilson could get a deal worth more money per year than those two if he wants it. Whether his contract will be worth more than Rodgers’ is up in the air. Expect the extension to be worth roughly $30 million per year, but it could be more depending on if the cap rises.