Rumor: RW asking to be the highest paid player in history

DAVIS HSU ‏@DavisHsuSeattle 4m4 minutes ago

Softy says he has heard that RW is asking to be the highest paid player in the history of football by a large margin. On air now.



So much for the hometown discount that so many were talking about a few months ago. I doubt that JS is willing to do this so we may be stuck with a contentious negotiation or even RW playing out his contract next yea and potentially a franchise tag the year after, or two...

Also a great article here on some of the outstanding questions on RW's contract negotiations and possibilities:

http://mynorthwest.com/292/2758350/ONei ... e-Seahawks

Unpopular... but if he's stuck on being the highest paid player in history, GM SirTed is letting him walk.

Sucks, I know. Best QB in our history, but that's foolish. If he wants to win as much as he says than contracts like that, for his skillset are untenable.

I'm having a hard time believing these words came straight from RW's mouth hole. Are we sure he didn't say he wanted to be the greatest player in history?

I love Russ like everyone. But I am a Seahawks fan, a fan of the team, not one player. Russ is a great QB, but imo he isn't a top 5 QB yet, or deserving of being the highest paid QB. If this is true, and he does want to be the highest paid QB, I think we should wait it out and maybe go with the year by year franchise tag, or dare I say let him walk?

JAGHAWK":10y08gkp said:

I'm having a hard time believing these words came straight from RW's mouth hole. Are we sure he didn't say he wanted to be the greatest player in history?

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I would assume it's both. Most paid (because he's human) and best in history (well cuz he's RW).

NFL players talk a lot about contracts in terms of respect. They perceive these contracts as signs of respect and they ask teams to put their money where their mouth is.

This also falls in line with JS's attitude and demeanor the last few weeks talking about the contract that I've noticed. He seems pissed off about the negotiations so far and that it's in RW's court which means to me that they have an offer in line with their long term goals and RW is asking for the world. I hope that's not the case.

More than anything, I hope this doesn't get sour with things getting personal. It took us forever to find a viable franchise quarterback, I hope nothing puts that in jeopardy.

If it's on the internet, it has to be true

jblaze":34zl0v9p said:

DAVIS HSU ‏@DavisHsuSeattle 4m4 minutes ago

Softy says he has heard that RW is asking to be the highest paid player in the history of football by a large margin. On air now.



So much for the hometown discount that so many were talking about a few months ago. I doubt that JS is willing to do this so we may be stuck with a contentious negotiation or even RW playing out his contract next yea and potentially a franchise tag the year after, or two...

Also a great article here on some of the outstanding questions on RW's contract negotiations and possibilities:

http://mynorthwest.com/292/2758350/ONei ... e-Seahawks

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That's not an altogether unreasonable request. Let's look at the numbers.

Aaron Rodgers was the highest paid previously (If memory serves me correctly) with a 5 year, $110 million contract. That averages out to $22 million per year.

So let's say Wilson wants more, so we offer him $22.5 million per year over 5 years (even though 4 years is more likely). This would make his contract 5 years and $112.5 million and make him the highest paid.

Now Wilson is set to make $1,542,000 this season. Add that to his 5 year deal and you get 6 years at $114.04 million which translates out to be just over $19 million per year. Honestly anything under $20 million/year should be considered a bargain for Wilson.

If you use the same numbers but reduce the extension to 4 years from 5 it looks like this

4 years at $90 million + 1 at $1.542 million or just over $18.3 million per year.

So, as you can see, giving him the highest per year contract isn't that outrageous when you consider his final year of his original contract.

JAGHAWK":q1ezjstk said:

I'm having a hard time believing these words came straight from RW's mouth hole. Are we sure he didn't say he wanted to be the greatest player in history?

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Assuming they were said, they didn't come from Wilson, that's almost guaranteed. Usually agents talk on behalf of their clients until they feel the negotiations have reached a place where a decision needs to be made by the player. I have no doubt his agent wants to get as much as possible.

This year's highest paid player ever is a bargain 5 years from now when the salary cap is 50 million higher than it is now. I can understand asking for it. I can understand negotiating for it.

Rodgers signed a 5 year, 110 million deal in 2013 that made him the highest paid player in the NFL on an annual basis. He isn't the highest paid any more. His cap hit for 2015 is behind Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Matt Ryan. I'm sure John will get the structure of the deal right in the end but given the names on the Spotrac Quarterback Cap Hit Rankings for 2015 (www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/quarterback), I can understand why Russell's camp would shoot for the moon.

Its called bargaining. He and his agent obviously know that this won't happen. You ask for as much as you can while management offers as little as they can. You meet somewhere in the middle. Negotiating 101.

That would be true without the "wide margin" part of the quote. That doesn't sound like 500k over what Rodgers makes.

Also from what Softy was saying, it sounds like he's asking for the last year of his contract to be ripped up and start on a new contract starting at 20 some million a year. JS/PC extend players a year early but also extend and use the last year of the contract to help with salary cap, etc. Perhaps that's a sticking point. Maybe he doesn't want 1.5m this year and a big signing bonus, maybe he wants 20 some million this year and the big signing bonus and a bunch of years instead of the typical 4 years added as we've seen with extensions the past few contracts.

I don't really see a problem with 22.5m apy, I care about salary cap implications and how many years it's tolerable until we have to restructure and push cap charges into the future to keep our "window" open.

I hate the offseason................................................................................

I don't believe that Wilson is saying anything of the sorts.

Jason LaConfora also said that he doesn't think a contract gets done before the start of the season. To be honest, that may not be the worst thing. Then we could get a deal done with Wagner ASAP and next offseason we could franchise RW. We could then even franchise him the next year before it gets too expensive and that would be a better "deal" than a huge new contract starting in the 24m/yr range.

Perhaps RW wants to do what others have done in the NBA for example. Lebron signed a shorter term max contract because he knows the salary cap is going up just like in the NFL. Then it gives him a chance to cash in twice and stay closer to max money year over year. Otherwise, a couple of years into a 6 year deal you're now the 6th or 7th highest paid because the cap has gone up so much and others are using your deal as precedent.

All interesting things to consider. Personally I would go shorter term and try to re-up with new salary cap numbers a couple of years down the road.

BullHawk33":1zbn7a6k said:

This year's highest paid player ever is a bargain 5 years from now when the salary cap is 50 million higher than it is now. I can understand asking for it. I can understand negotiating for it.

Rodgers signed a 5 year, 110 million deal in 2013 that made him the highest paid player in the NFL on an annual basis. He isn't the highest paid any more. His cap hit for 2015 is behind Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Matt Ryan. I'm sure John will get the structure of the deal right in the end but given the names on the Spotrac Quarterback Cap Hit Rankings for 2015 (http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/quarterback), I can understand why Russell's camp would shoot for the moon.

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Although true, it's not counting the fact that Rodgers got a pretty steep signing bonus. It's still the highest average salary, assuming he plays out the contract (which is likely with franchise qbs).


I assume Wilson will get a deal that will look something like what I put above....

4 years $90 million

2015 - $1,542,000 + Signing Bonus $34,000,000

2016 - $2,000,000

2017 - $15,000,000

2018 - $18,000,000

2019 - $21,000,000


Each of those years, some of that salary could be lowered in the base and added to in the form of a roster bonus, but that's the general picture as I see it.

jblaze":21q9jy31 said:

That would be true without the "wide margin" part of the quote. That doesn't sound like 500k over what Rodgers makes.

Also from what Softy was saying, it sounds like he's asking for the last year of his contract to be ripped up and start on a new contract starting at 20 some million a year. JS/PC extend players a year early but also extend and use the last year of the contract to help with salary cap, etc. Perhaps that's a sticking point. Maybe he doesn't want 1.5m this year and a big signing bonus, maybe he wants 20 some million this year and the big signing bonus and a bunch of years instead of the typical 4 years added as we've seen with extensions the past few contracts.

I don't really see a problem with 22.5m apy, I care about salary cap implications and how many years it's tolerable until we have to restructure and push cap charges into the future to keep our "window" open.

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First and foremost, it's softy's job to exaggerate a little for dramatic flair. He's there for ratings. My post is to show something more realistic. When they made Sherman and Thomas the highest paid at their position, they did so by a small margin and I would assume it would work out to be something similar for Wilson. Agents are going to generally ask for the moon and work their way down to reality eventually.

We got him for $1.5 million in 2015 and then about $21 million in 2016. Not too bad.

Blitzer88":kmqaq36a said:

I hate the offseason................................................................................

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You tend to hate the regular season too. But you love ellipses.

Yes, it will happen.

Sounds like Russell wants to be paid retroactively for his ELC.

If he does insist on that kind of dough per year, I would franchise him for 2 years then let him walk and get 1st round comp pick.