There have been situations where vets have left and backups won Super Bowls within a few years. Montana and Favre come to mind. Although, I'm not sure we have Steve Young or Aaron Rodgers on our current roster. Not many other starters really leave their teams. It has worked out okay for SD after Brees left. The Pats did pretty well after Bledsoe. There is a sentiment that letting Russell get away automatically spells doom and gloom. Kip stated previously that 15 teams have QB's capable of winning a Super Bowl. I actually think we could win one with a few more than that.
We're built around having an awesome defense and running game. They have been the overriding keys to our success. The ballsy thing is to keep that together. We all want to keep Russell. But if you're offering me 25 million per year and 2 first round draft picks for him, with a decent chance of those being high picks, man I'm thinking hard about that. It took Pete and John two years to find a QB they could win a Super Bowl with. And we believe wholeheartedly in those guys. Don't we give them a pretty darn good shot at doing it again? If, and I know it is a substantial "if", they can find another QB and keep the rest of the team together, we rattle off rings. Not one, not two.....
I think paying any player 25+ million dollars severely hamstrings your chances of winning Super Bowls. The numbers, although the sample set only goes back 15 years or so, certainly back this. Nobody pays their QB top-dollar and wins Super Bowls. It just doesn't happen. Could we buck the odds? Sure. Why not? We have been doing just that for the last couple of seasons.
There is another argument at play here. I do think there is a large number of fans, that if made to decide between winning another Super Bowl, or keeping Russell Wilson for the next decade, would choose Russell Wilson. There is certainly some value to that too.
ETA: Kip, you've made a post this week that I can't find now, that basically states that franchise QB's can and should basically get whatever they want, as this is what the model dictates. If this is the case, I contend that the model is broken, and will be exposed. The team that pulls it off correctly, lets their franchise QB walk, and proceeds to win anyways, will blaze a new trail. Do you think there is any chance that Schneider wants to be that trailblazer, and wants to take on that challenge?