Seahawks prepared to make Russell Wilson NFL’s highest paid player
Russell Wilson is not thinking about his contract status with the Super Bowl in front of him, but after the game he should expect to be under consideration to be the NFL’s highest paid player with a lucrative extension.
Contract negotiations have been put on hold for Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks playing for a second straight Super Bowl the focus of the organization, but when the season ends on Feb. 1 the focus will turn to a lucrative extension for the superstar quarterback.
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Eliminating any distractions is the smart move and negotiating over guaranteed money and length of a deal is the least thing on anyone’s mind with the New England Patriots in the way, but that will all chance in the coming days and weeks when the two try to hammer out a deal.
According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, the Seahawks are prepared to make Wilson the highest paid player in the NFL with the starting point expected to start at $22 million.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who Wilson defeated in the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago makes around $22 million a season. Helping Wilson’s cause to be the game’s highest paid is his remarkable success in the early portion of his career as one of the winningest quarterbacks.
He has more wins than any quarterback in the first three regular seasons with 36.
The only other quarterback to win a start and win a title game twice in his first three seasons is Hall of Famer Sid Luckman. He is the first quarterback since Otto Graham to start two Super Bowls in his first three seasons and he is the youngest quarterback to start his second Super Bowl.
His 849 rushing yards in 2014 were the fifth most by a quarterback in NFL history so he has plenty of leverage in negotiations.
Wilson is scheduled to make a base salary of $798,651 for the 2015 season in the final year of his four-year, $2.198 million rookie contract he signed after they took him in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin.
The Seahawks have had two years to prepare for this mega-extension so there shouldn’t be too many hurdles in getting this deal done in the offseason. If Wilson is successful in being the NFL’s highest paid player, it may not last long until Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts get their extension done this offseason.
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