“Go ‘Hawks,” indeed.
As Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson enters the final year of his rookie contract, the team and Wilson’s agent have embarked on an awkward negotiation that could result in Wilson leaving the Seahawks. Part of the problem is that Mark Rodgers works as a baseball agent who hasn’t actively represented NFL players in years; his relationship with the Seahawks lacks the immediate trust that would arise from the regular back-and-forth associated with repeated negotiations and communications on behalf of multiple clients, from potential draft picks to existing clients to looming unrestricted free agents to street free agents.
Part of the problem is that Wilson wants to be paid a lot of money. Apparently a lot more than the Seahawks want to pay him.
According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (via CBSSports.com), Rodgers does not deny the perception/rumor/speculation that Wilson wants to be the highest paid player in all of football. That title currently belongs to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who signed more than two years ago a five-year, $110 million extension, an average of $22 million per year.
It’s not surprising that Mark Rodgers wouldn’t deny that Wilson wants to be paid more than Aaron Rodgers. The real question is how much higher is the bar above $22 million per year?
Since Aaron Rodgers signed his latest contract, the salary cap has gone up by a total of $20 million per team. Also since then, Wilson has led the Seahawks to two straight Super Bowls.
Most importantly, Wilson has only 16 regular-season games and up to four postseason games before he places the Seahawks in a very tough spot, plopping them into a three-door game of Let’s Make A Deal with the franchise needing its franchise quarterback to carve out a fourth.
Door No. 1: Offer Wilson a market-value, long-term deal.
Door No. 2: Apply the non-exclusive franchise tag to Wilson, at roughly $20 million for 2016 and, more importantly, giving a team like the Browns, Texans, Bills, Jets, or Rams the opportunity to offer Wilson a market-value, long-term deal, in exchange for a pair of first-round draft picks.
Door No. 3: Apply the exclusive franchise tag to Wilson, at roughly $25 million for 2016.
Choosing Door No. 2 dramatically increases the chances of Wilson leaving the Seahawks after the coming season. Choosing Door No. 3 makes $25 million per year (not $22,000,001 per year) the starting point for a long-term contract, maybe more. If Wilson opts to continue to assume the year-to-year risk of serious injury, the $25 million in 2016 becomes by rule $30 million in 2017 (a 20-percent raise for the second application of the tag) and $43.2 million in 2018 (a 44-percent raise for the third use of it). That equates to $98.2 million over three years -- more than $30 million more than Cam Newton will make over the first three years of his new contract.
Ultimately, it’s not about whether Wilson is worth $25 million or more per year. It’s about leverage. Once Wilson gets through the 2015 season unscathed, he’ll have all of it.
The only viable solution for the Seahawks will be to get Wilson to remove his foot from their throat, in deference to his “Go ‘Hawks!” tendencies and to allow for enough money to be left behind to put a quality team around him. The way to do that is to do it now, putting so much on the table that it would become an offer that Wilson couldn’t refuse.
There’s another reason for Wilson to eventually take less than he could get by pushing this situation to the brink. Even without a market-value contract, reports periodically arise of Wilson facing resentment within the locker room. If/when he becomes the highest-paid player in the NFL, it won’t get any better.
