Why I am disappointed in Russell Wilson?

[hawknation2015]

More wins equals more endorsements equals more money in his pocket in the long run.

That equation is not nearly as set in stone as guaranteed contract money. It's always interesting how many key details people leave out or just forget that happen to not strengthen their narrative. Do you not recall reports that this FO asked him to do fewer endorsements during his time in the off-season? Look it up, some pretty big name NFL reporters reported exactly that. How pissed would you be if the team that has you on a great contract told you to do fewer endorsements? Endorsements rely on striking while an iron is hot in many cases. He never complained publicly about such a silly request went about his business. But if you are going to take in and analyze every 'Russ wants a lot of money report' then you have to do the same here. They try to slow your OFF-SEASON endorsements and have you on a great value, but you are greedy, hostage taking, arrogant etc. when you hold their feet to the flame for an offseason to get the best deal all while playing a risky sport.....yeah.




Russ: No thanks and I'm going to go ahead and play my heart out like the rest and work hard, but I'll remember that little request and maybe make a few of my own.

Not the least reasonable take in the world.

So you are going to buy into that anonymously-sourced report, but deny all the other anonymously-sourced reports about Wilson wanting more money than any other player in the league and an inordinate amount of guaranteed money. Why would the team care about Wilson making commercials? Many of those commercials, by the way, happen to be with Microsoft . . . a company the Seahawks' owner is fairly well acquainted with. Is that supposed to be a coincidence?

The fact remains that endorsements follow winners, and there is NO DOUBT Russell has benefitted from the support he has received from one of the best defenses, running backs, and coaching in the game. Signing an extension as soon as he can will give the team the stability it needs to figure out how it will be extend other critical players, such as Bobby Wagner, and that increases the likelihood that Russell will remain a winner.

 

[erik2690]

His inability to throw from the pocket though:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SI_DougFarrar/status/618990856528224256[/tweet]


[tweet]https://twitter.com/SI_DougFarrar/status/618993302231126016[/tweet]



Might not be the right thread, but I didn't want to create a new one for this and yet found this good info.

 

[scutterhawk]

The guy is happily fulfilling his crappy contract and somehow that isn't enough!

No, he needs to do whatever it takes to show that he's a Fan/Team First guy, and shit-can his own dreams.
Hasn't it occurred to him, that there's scads of skittish & fickle fans that have quit on him?

 

[erik2690]

So you are going to buy into that anonymously-sourced report, but deny all the other anonymously-sourced reports about Wilson wanting more money than any other player in the league and an inordinate amount of guaranteed money. Why would the team care about Wilson making commercials? Many of those commercials, by the way, happen to be with Microsoft . . . a company the Seahawks' owner is fairly well acquainted with. Is that supposed to be a coincidence?

The fact remains that endorsements follow winners, and there is NO DOUBT Russell has benefitted from the support he has received from one of the best defenses, running backs, and coaching in the game. Signing an extension as soon as he can will give the team the stability it needs to figure out how it will be extend other critical players, such as Bobby Wagner, and that increases the likelihood that Russell will remain a winner.

No, honestly that was my point. I'm throwing that question at you. I honestly deleted my post in like 30 seconds after not feeling it had a ton of substance so I'm surprised you got a response in lol. But, no I'm placing low stock in that report and a lot of contract reports honestly. I just disagree with the notion he owes them a timeframe to sign a deal. He has benefited and so has the team. That's how that works.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Haven't we at least given Kerry Collins a courtesy call?

Why not Matt Cassell? At least he's not my older brother's age like Collins and retired. His daughter is my age iirc.

 

[hawknation2015]

So you are going to buy into that anonymously-sourced report, but deny all the other anonymously-sourced reports about Wilson wanting more money than any other player in the league and an inordinate amount of guaranteed money. Why would the team care about Wilson making commercials? Many of those commercials, by the way, happen to be with Microsoft . . . a company the Seahawks' owner is fairly well acquainted with. Is that supposed to be a coincidence?

The fact remains that endorsements follow winners, and there is NO DOUBT Russell has benefitted from the support he has received from one of the best defenses, running backs, and coaching in the game. Signing an extension as soon as he can will give the team the stability it needs to figure out how it will be extend other critical players, such as Bobby Wagner, and that increases the likelihood that Russell will remain a winner.

No, honestly that was my point. I'm throwing that question at you. I honestly deleted my post in like 30 seconds after not feeling it had a ton of substance so I'm surprised you got a response in lol. But, no I'm placing low stock in that report and a lot of contract reports honestly. I just disagree with the notion he owes them a timeframe to sign a deal. He has benefited and so has the team. That's how that works.

I agree with this . . . both he and the team would benefit from getting this extension done as soon as possible. It would provide them with (1) stability, knowing how much cap space they have available to maintain a championship-caliber team, (2) security in knowing they have leadership at the QB position in the place, and (3) cap flexibility by giving Wilson a massive signing bonus this year that is prorated over the life of the extension.

Get this thing done already. That's going to require both sides to meet each other somewhere in the middle. Hopefully, Wilson is willing to sacrifice a little for a better opportunity to win Super Bowls. And hopefully the team is willing to pay him more than any other player has ever been paid (if that is what Wilson demands).

 

[KiwiHawk]

Literally one of the worst posts I've ever read.

I second that

That's cool that you guys are still in the place where Wilson is an awesome genuine guy who does no wrong. At times I wish I was still there. I'm just not anymore.

Why is there not a way better middle ground? You just wrote a post questioning like everything he is on and off the field, but the only alternative is "awesome genuine guy who does no wrong"?

Because if mine was the dumbest post ever it follows that they disagree with every single point even if they didn't bother to dispute any of them.

 

[hawkfannj]

A pro football who has massively outplayed his contract, and is trying to get a good contract. How is that different than anyone else in the league. Disappointed? No way. He hasn't done anything wrong, people just enjoy branding him the way they have decided he is. :roll:

I'm for paying the man good cause he definitely outplayed his contract ,but let's be honest he want to be the highest payed player in the history of the NFL that's what's driving this IMHO and I'll say the jury is still out on that one . I for one love the position he is in right now it benefits us . I love the fact he is playing out his rookie contract we got all the cards here he emerges as the next Tom Brady / manning this year with his passing skills awesome'! At that point franchise him . If he throws up no such a great year Well........ So he HAS to perform on another level this year . We are in a great spot the longer it goes the better .

 

[volsunghawk]

RW has the right to extract every dollar that he can sell this or any other team on. That said, would I feel cynical the next time he says "Go Hawks", you betcha!

can't he both extract every dollar he can AND represent his team with the utmost of his heart, dedication and ability?

Yeah, I agree. I don't see why it has to be an either/or situation.

Ask yourselves... how many times will the average NFL player find himself in a window for negotiating a big contract during his career? For the average player, 1 time might be a generous estimate. For a solid QB, he might be looking at 2-3 times, tops. He's locked into his first contract due to rookie scale slotting. If he's been great during that rookie deal, he gets to negotiate for a big deal. Depending on the length of that deal and how he performs during it, he might get another shot at a big contract, but maybe not. Only the truly elite guys will get a third sizable deal, and that's if they play well into their 30s.

So what it comes down to is a player having 2-3 times total in his career to decide on the conditions under which he will play and how he will secure financial stability for himself and his family (and possibly successive generations). It's not a time for that player to be looking out for the interests of the team ABOVE his own. After the contract is signed, yeah, it's all about the team. But this is the business part of the game, and we shouldn't begrudge players doing what's in their best interests. Because you damn sure know the team is doing what's in its best interests. That's why negotiations are often long, contentious, and infuriating for fans.

Eventually, Wilson and the team will come to a compromise with which all parties will be relatively satisfied, and all the hand-wringing here will have been for nothing except to keep ourselves occupied over the offseason.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Did he ever say that he wanted to be the highest paid player? ZERO proof of that, but hey, if the media says it, it has to be true :th2thumbs:

 

[volsunghawk]

Did he ever say that he wanted to be the highest paid player? ZERO proof of that, but hey, if the media says it, it has to be true :th2thumbs:

He doesn't have to say it. It's a fact of how NFL contracts are given out.

If you read the recent posts by Danny Kelly at Field Gulls and Bill Barnwell at Grantland, they make a pretty good argument about all of this contract drama boiling down to one question: Is Wilson a franchise QB that you give a traditional, big money contract to?

Paraphrasing those articles, there is no middle tier for starting QB contracts. There is the year-to-year deal that protects the team that we've seen recently given to Kaepernick, Dalton, and Tannehill, and then there is the big, chock-full-of-guarantees, traditional deal we've seen go to Newton, Roethlisberger, Brees, Rodgers, etc.

If you believe that Wilson is the kind of player who deserves that traditional QB deal, and the Seahawks give it to him, then he's going to be the highest paid player in the league - right up until Andrew Luck does his deal. Personally, I think both the Seahawks and Wilson agree that he should get the traditional type of deal, but the hang-ups are over guaranteed money and how it is distributed (and I think this part of the negotiations is significantly impacted by Rodgers being a baseball agent first and foremost).

I think they will come to an agreement eventually that will make Wilson the highest paid player in the league, but won't be setting any precedents about how player deals are done (i.e., no full guarantees or anything like that).

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Fair enough. And the guarantee is very likely the sticking point, and I guess I still don't get why all the sudden he is Satan or A-Rod. He's just trying to get a great deal.

 

[SeahawkPQ]

Unless, in your free time, you do more for your community than Wilson does with his weekly visits to the children's hospital; you can take your disappointment and shove it right up your rear end.

 

[Crizilla]

Cry some more drama boy

 

[onanygivensunday]

Unless, in your free time, you do more for your community than Wilson does with his weekly visits to the children's hospital; you can take your disappointment and shove it right up your rear end.

Back up there, Princess... no need for that tone and suggestion.

 

[Uncle Si]

RW has the right to extract every dollar that he can sell this or any other team on. That said, would I feel cynical the next time he says "Go Hawks", you betcha!

can't he both extract every dollar he can AND represent his team with the utmost of his heart, dedication and ability?

This to infinity. I don't understand why people can't get both concepts. When he's working for the Hawks, he all about the team. When he's working for Russell, he's all about Russell. And rightfully so. The idea or fear that his contract will gut the franchise for his benefit is more of a fairy tale then Russell good two shoes image. Russell actually goes to see sick children. His contract hasn't cost us one single game.

SC

The problem is that they aren't mutually exclusive. And the fear is certainly not a fairy tale at all.

By Russell " working for Russell" as you say, there will be a point where his gain is the teams loss. The fans loss. etc. The Seahawks absolutely can not continue to compete for Super Bowls if his contract reaches certain levels.

Not his problem of course. Especially if recognition and wealth is more important than playing on a winning team.

He could of course have his cake and eat it too. There are win win scenarios abound where he becomes filthy rich AND the team gets to keep its stuff together.

Sounds like he has no interest in that. Which is his right, but it just demonstrates that IMAGE russ was just that. Hes a human like everyone else. The stupid pedestal should be gone, like the OP said.

Hes just a normal dude, and increasingly, clearly a weird one too.

You are assuming a great deal about his intentions, first and foremost. Secondly, in your scenario any player asking for a contract is not mutually exclusive to his desire to play for the team that he's on.

It's business. Until the contract is signed and we see what the details are people are jumping to some fairly radical and awkward assumptions.

 

[StoneCold]

The problem is that they aren't mutually exclusive. And the fear is certainly not a fairy tale at all.

By Russell " working for Russell" as you say, there will be a point where his gain is the teams loss. The fans loss. etc. The Seahawks absolutely can not continue to compete for Super Bowls if his contract reaches certain levels.

Not his problem of course. Especially if recognition and wealth is more important than playing on a winning team.

He could of course have his cake and eat it too. There are win win scenarios abound where he becomes filthy rich AND the team gets to keep its stuff together.

Sounds like he has no interest in that. Which is his right, but it just demonstrates that IMAGE russ was just that. Hes a human like everyone else. The stupid pedestal should be gone, like the OP said.

Hes just a normal dude, and increasingly, clearly a weird one too.

You are assuming a great deal about his intentions, first and foremost. Secondly, in your scenario any player asking for a contract is not mutually exclusive to his desire to play for the team that he's on.

It's business. Until the contract is signed and we see what the details are people are jumping to some fairly radical and awkward assumptions.

In the words of Kwai Chang Cain, "If the team losses...and fans lose, does not Russell lose as well?"

As Si said, many assumptions. Patience Tudor. It's not time for Drizzle Drazzle.

SC

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I'm only disappointed in Russell if he truly is asking for an unreasonable contract, as in 25M a year fully guaranteed as some of the rumors have suggested.

That's insane and Pete and John are never going to cripple our cap by not only handing out a fully guaranteed contract that big............but starting a precedent for every other important player to want the same.

 

[McGruff]

I look at it like this. Russell Wilson has aspirations after football. He wants to own a professional sports franchise. Either MLB or NFL. He wants be a businessman. He wants to support a plethora of charitable causes. He has even hinted at aspiring to politics.

All of those things have one thing in common . . . money. Lots of it.

This next contract goes a long way in setting Wilson up to be able to begin acheiving those goals. Fact is, $100 milion doesn't go far when you have dreams as big as Russell. Its a drop in the bucket for a sports franchise. He doesn't even begin to touch a political career. But its a start.

So he's just doing what needs to be done to achieve his goals.

 

[DavidSeven]

There's a difference between taking a deal that's obviously less than your worth (Brady) and accepting a pretty reasonable contract offer and moving on (Kaepernick, Newton, Tannehill, etc.). No one is expecting Russell to take a deep discount ala Brady, but that doesn't mean he needs to milk the franchise for all its worth either. There is a middle ground. A middle ground that Russell seems unwilling to live with.

At this point, Russell knows what Seattle's top offer is. Assuming it is at least in the $21-22M range with normal guarantees (and how could it not be?), I think it is fair to be disappointed that his side hasn't accepted yet.