Seattle Seahawks: Two big contract extensions on the horizon

The Seattle Seahawks have two crucial players on expiring deals in 2019. The team needs to find a way to extend both of them.

The Seattle Seahawks have two indispensable players on their team, one on offense and one on defense. Both of these players were drafted by the Seahawks back in 2012 and were key parts to the team’s two Super Bowl runs. Have you guessed them yet? Quarterback Russell Wilson and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner are the heart and soul of the Seahawks.

Wilson keeps the offense running while Wagner quarterbacks the defense and makes plays all across the field. Without either of these guys, the Seahawks wouldn’t even be in a position to make the playoffs. Now, both of them are playing on contracts that will expire after the 2019 season.

Wagner is entering the last year of a four-year, $43 million deal he signed back in August 2015.  Wilson also signed a four-year deal in 2015, but it was worth $87.6 million, more than double what Wagner got. While both players are making a lot of money, they’re still not close to being the highest paid players at their positions.

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Wagner is the second highest paid middle linebacker, only behind Luke Kuechly, in millions per year, but he’s just the 12th highest paid linebacker overall, per Spotrac. Wilson, despite making five Pro Bowls in seven seasons, is just the 11th highest-paid quarterback. Now, both Seattle stars are set to cash in after years of success.

In his seven professional seasons, Wagner has been a First Team All-Pro four times. The only middle linebacker to have done that more since 2012 is Kuechly. On his current deal, Wagner is making $10.75 million per year. Kuechly leads all middle linebackers, making over $12.3 million per year.

Considering that Kuechly’s current deal took effect in 2017 and that players naturally make more as the cap rises, Wagner should make at least as much as Kuechly is getting now. It’s more likely though that he’ll end up making more.

But just how much more could Wagner hope to make? Six outside linebackers make more money per year than Kuechly. Khalil Mack makes $23.5, the most among any linebacker in the game by far. Von Miller makes just over $19 million, Justin Houston makes over $16.8 million, Melvin Ingram makes $16 million, Robert Quinn makes over $14.2 million and Jamie Collins makes $12.5 million a year.

While Wagner has the Hall of Fame talent to be as impactful as Mack and Miller, pass rushers make more than middle linebackers. Pass rushers are just valued more.

However, I think Wagner has an argument to make more than Quinn and potentially even as much as Ingram. Something in that $14-16 million range seems right for a middle linebacker of his skill. It’s hard to judge because he’ll be setting the new standard with whatever deal he gets. Hopefully, Seattle will be willing to pay him because some team will definitely pay the future Hall of Famer what he’s worth.

Wilson’s contract is set to be enormous. Last offseason, Aaron Rodgers signed a four-year, $134 million extension, Jimmy Garoppolo signed a five-year, $137.5 million extension and Kirk Cousins signed a three-year, $84 million deal.

Garoppolo only has 10 career starts, while Cousins has made the Pro Bowl once in seven seasons and has never won a postseason game. Rodgers deserved his money, but if the other two are making that much, then Wilson should get a deal close to Rodgers’ $33.5 million per year.

At the very least, Wilson will make as much money as Matt Ryan. Ryan signed a five-year, $150 million extension last offseason. Ryan did win the MVP in 2016 and took his team to the Super Bowl, but quarterback contracts rise with the cap every year. That alone means Wilson’s new deal will have a higher ceiling than the one Ryan got. Plus, Wilson has won more games over the last two seasons and Ryan hasn’t made a Pro Bowl during that stretch, despite some impressive numbers in 2018.

While common entails that Rodgers should have the largest deal, the Seahawks will pay Wilson as much as he asks for. Joel Corry, for CBS Sports, believes Wilson will become the first quarterback in NFL history to make $35 million a year, and that he’ll set records in terms of guaranteed money and signing bonus. Those are both strong possibilities, but it will depend on if Wilson gives Seattle a discount or if he wants as much money as he can get.

The Seahawks can’t go tossing away all their money this offseason. They’ll need to have two truckloads of it left to extend Wagner and Wilson. Speaking of which, they might want to actually start those contract discussions. If Seattle was forced to choose, they’d obviously go with their franchise quarterback. However, I don’t believe the Seahawks are a playoff team without either of these guys. They need to extend both, and they need to do it soon.