Would Hawks Let Wilson Walk?

[Anthony!]

Wilson's agent may be playing hardball, but Wilson himself let us know a few key pieces of information in his recent ESPN interview about how he is personally feeling about these negotiations: he would like a deal done before the season starts, he would like to play his whole career in Seattle, and he wants his contract negotiations throughout his career to stay private.

What about that sounds like a guy who would ever holdout (i.e. miss off-season workouts, practices, or games) over a contract negotiation? That would be the most extreme and public negotiation tactic he could possibly take. And it would do more harm than good by sacrificing the team-first image he has so carefully cultivated. It would be like using a nuclear weapon during the Cold War . . . Mutually Assured Destruction.

He's making 8% of what he should be making this season; not only is he not holding out, he is actually organizing trips to Hawaii for 7 on 7 workouts with the team. Now imagine that he is making around $20 million under next year's exclusive franchise tag. Why would he risk a public demonstration like holding out under those circumstances? I don't see it.

several reasons, for one a 1 year tag deal doe snot give him the long term deal he wants. For 2 it also leaves him with no leverage. He would risk it to get the long term deal he wants, and at that point it would be easy to do and keep face especially if the hawks do not make a fair offer. At some point he will need to think of himself, other wise he will get taken advantage of. No one who really understands the business side of the NFL would hold it against Wilson. If it came to that it would look just as bad for the team as it would Wilson. Lynch can hold us for ransom 2 years straight and gets what he wants, but the franchise Qb does not. Bennett not being at the camp actually helps Wilson stance. The bigger question is why would the hawks risk him doing that?

 

[hawknation2015]

Wilson's agent may be playing hardball, but Wilson himself let us know a few key pieces of information in his recent ESPN interview about how he is personally feeling about these negotiations: he would like a deal done before the season starts, he would like to play his whole career in Seattle, and he wants his contract negotiations throughout his career to stay private.

What about that sounds like a guy who would ever holdout (i.e. miss off-season workouts, practices, or games) over a contract negotiation? That would be the most extreme and public negotiation tactic he could possibly take. And it would do more harm than good by sacrificing the team-first image he has so carefully cultivated. It would be like using a nuclear weapon during the Cold War . . . Mutually Assured Destruction.

He's making 8% of what he should be making this season; not only is he not holding out, he is actually organizing trips to Hawaii for 7 on 7 workouts with the team. Now imagine that he is making around $20 million under next year's exclusive franchise tag. Why would he risk a public demonstration like holding out under those circumstances? I don't see it.

several reasons, for one a 1 year tag deal doe snot give him the long term deal he wants. For 2 it also leaves him with no leverage. He would risk it to get the long term deal he wants, and at that point it would be easy to do and keep face especially if the hawks do not make a fair offer. At some point he will need to think of himself, other wise he will get taken advantage of. No one who really understands the business side of the NFL would hold it against Wilson. If it came to that it would look just as bad for the team as it would Wilson. Lynch can hold us for ransom 2 years straight and gets what he wants, but the franchise Qb does not. Bennett not being at the camp actually helps Wilson stance. The bigger question is why would the hawks risk him doing that?

They wouldn't . . . unless what Wilson's agent is asking for is unreasonable and would hurt the team.

 

[Willyeye]

I have repeatedly given Russell praise over the years and certainly recognize he is a fantastic young quarterback. He's just not an elite passer and I think giving him 20+ million per season would not maximize the future upside of this franchise.

I'd argue that the future upside of this franchise is more in Wilson's hands. But I can understand your point. Future will tell

Except the facts show he is an elite passer, just some will always find ways to bring him down. In addition as history has shown us the future upside of any team is mainly based on them having or not having a franchise QB.

I am probably one of Wilson's biggest fans, but even I don't consider Russell an elite passer, at least not yet. If you say Wilson is an elite QB, that could arguably be true, given what his run game does for the team...also, given what Wilson has done, despite his O-Line and receiver corps, also screams elite QB. Unfortunately though, in the minds of most football fans, QB's are assessed mainly on passing, so I guess I'd have to say that I don't believe Wilson to be an elite QB. And if I'm being honest with myself, three years is probably not enough to qualify a QB as elite. He's getting really close, but I think it will take a while longer.

In a few years from now, if Russell can stay healthy and improve his passing at least a little bit every season, and if and when Peyton, Brady, Brees, and maybe even Romo, all retire, a few QB's in the NFL will HAVE TO graduate to the ranks of elite. I'd say Rodgers is already elite, and that at this point, Luck and Wilson are the most likely to move up into that elite category. I honestly believe that there should be no more than 4 or 5 QB's in the NFL should be rewarded with the "elite" designation. So until there are a few more openings, I don't think Wilson qualifies.

 

[haroldseattle]

Love Russell Wilson and so do the Seahawks. So why hasn't there been a extension done? IMO it's because RW and his agent are looking to top Joe Flacco contract for 2016 and 2017. I sure they can make a case that RW deserves more money then Flacco, right? Flacco cap hit in 2016 is $28,550,000 and in 2017 $31,150,00.

http://overthecap.com/player/joe-flacco/1383/

Listening to posters saying they can't see RW asking for Aaron Roger type money, makes me want to say of course not....he wants Joe Flacco type money. That is what the hold out is IMO. $30,000,000 a year is a boatload of money, but you can't let your franchise QB walk and go back to the clipboard jesus type of QB. Not exceptable! So this is going be a long process and unless RW and his agent come down on their asking price the Seahawks will drag this out as long as it make financial sense. Then at the end they'll cave in and pay what it takes to keep him on the team, because it would be easier to rebuild the whole team from scratch with RW, then to find another franchise QB. Just my two cents worth.

 

[Anthony!]

Love Russell Wilson and so do the Seahawks. So why hasn't there been a extension done? IMO it's because RW and his agent are looking to top Joe Flacco contract for 2016 and 2017. I sure they can make a case that RW deserves more money then Flacco, right? Flacco cap hit in 2016 is $28,550,000 and in 2017 $31,150,00.

http://overthecap.com/player/joe-flacco/1383/

Listening to posters saying they can't see RW asking for Aaron Roger type money, makes me want to say of course not....he wants Joe Flacco type money. That is what the hold out is IMO. $30,000,000 a year is a boatload of money, but you can't let your franchise QB walk and go back to the clipboard jesus type of QB. Not exceptable! So this is going be a long process and unless RW and his agent come down on their asking price the Seahawks will drag this out as long as it make financial sense. Then at the end they'll cave in and pay what it takes to keep him on the team, because it would be easier to rebuild the whole team from scratch with RW, then to find another franchise QB. Just my two cents worth.

Could be but it is speculation. I could easily say its because the Hawks do not want to p[ay more than 15 mil a season, and until they up to top 10 money a deal will not get done. I mean some of what JS has said can easily lead you to that conclusion. The reality is we do not know what the hold up is.

 

[haroldseattle]

Love Russell Wilson and so do the Seahawks. So why hasn't there been a extension done? IMO it's because RW and his agent are looking to top Joe Flacco contract for 2016 and 2017. I sure they can make a case that RW deserves more money then Flacco, right? Flacco cap hit in 2016 is $28,550,000 and in 2017 $31,150,00.

http://overthecap.com/player/joe-flacco/1383/

Listening to posters saying they can't see RW asking for Aaron Roger type money, makes me want to say of course not....he wants Joe Flacco type money. That is what the hold out is IMO. $30,000,000 a year is a boatload of money, but you can't let your franchise QB walk and go back to the clipboard jesus type of QB. Not exceptable! So this is going be a long process and unless RW and his agent come down on their asking price the Seahawks will drag this out as long as it make financial sense. Then at the end they'll cave in and pay what it takes to keep him on the team, because it would be easier to rebuild the whole team from scratch with RW, then to find another franchise QB. Just my two cents worth.

Could be but it is speculation. I could easily say its because the Hawks do not want to p[ay more than 15 mil a season, and until they up to top 10 money a deal will not get done. I mean some of what JS has said can easily lead you to that conclusion. The reality is we do not know what the hold up is.

Speculation? Yes it is. However every thing points in this direction. RW is a pure pro business guy. It comes across on how he presents himself, what he says and he got some high ambitions. I believed he said he wanted to own a NFL team some day. So it should come to no surprise that he and his agent are shooting for the high mark.
Seahawks are not a cheapsake type of team, they will pay for great play. Sherman, Thomas, Lynch, and Chancellor all got great contracts. They seemed very confident they would get this deal done with RW. I think they would be more then happy to give him Aaron Roger type money. I think that is what they thought it would take. They under estimated RW ambitions.

That is why you hear JS talk about how they want to sign RW, but keep the team together. This is what the Seahawks are trying to sell RW on. Will it succeed? We'll see.

 

[Landhawk1]

I have repeatedly given Russell praise over the years and certainly recognize he is a fantastic young quarterback. He's just not an elite passer and I think giving him 20+ million per season would not maximize the future upside of this franchise.

I'd argue that the future upside of this franchise is more in Wilson's hands. But I can understand your point. Future will tell

Except the facts show he is an elite passer, just some will always find ways to bring him down. In addition as history has shown us the future upside of any team is mainly based on them having or not having a franchise QB.

I am probably one of Wilson's biggest fans, but even I don't consider Russell an elite passer, at least not yet. If you say Wilson is an elite QB, that could arguably be true, given what his run game does for the team...also, given what Wilson has done, despite his O-Line and receiver corps, also screams elite QB. Unfortunately though, in the minds of most football fans, QB's are assessed mainly on passing, so I guess I'd have to say that I don't believe Wilson to be an elite QB. And if I'm being honest with myself, three years is probably not enough to qualify a QB as elite. He's getting really close, but I think it will take a while longer.

In a few years from now, if Russell can stay healthy and improve his passing at least a little bit every season, and if and when Peyton, Brady, Brees, and maybe even Romo, all retire, a few QB's in the NFL will HAVE TO graduate to the ranks of elite. I'd say Rodgers is already elite, and that at this point, Luck and Wilson are the most likely to move up into that elite category. I honestly believe that there should be no more than 4 or 5 QB's in the NFL should be rewarded with the "elite" designation. So until there are a few more openings, I don't think Wilson qualifies.

People can say elite or not elite but Russell Wilson is the best QB ever to wear the Seahawk uniform. I don't ever remember seeing a QB be as prepared as he was to take on the job. He is the total package in that he is a great thrower, runner, leader and is absolutey the type of guy you want representing the team. He is different from any QB ever to play in the NFL. He may not have the passing yards that some QB's have but I'm quite sure if he was asked to pass more, he could rack up the numbers. There are two other facors that make what he's done all the more remarkable...his lack of quality receivers and pass protection. Wilson has been under duress for the most part and it's amazing that he's been able to do what he's done given that fact. I look forward to seeing what he can do with better receivers and protection.

Think back, if you will to 2009. The season had ended and our team was in shambles. Mora was fired and PC was brought in to replace him. Even though we won our division in 2010 (7-9), the writing was on the wall that Hasselbeck was done here and we'd be moving forward with a new QB. Who was going to be our QB...Charlie Whitehurst? As I fan, I had a sense of desperation during the draft. I wanted a QB and remember watching Locker, Ponder, Dalton and Kaepernick all get taken and realizing that this draft would not provide a solution to our problem at the position. We had the NFL lockout, needed a guy who knew Bevell's system and enter...Tarvaris Jackson. The team as a whole was improving and getting tougher but it was painfully obvious, at least to me, that although he was game, TJack was not the answer...I never thought he would be. Whitehurst was never going to be what we needed either. At the end of the season I was in despair over our QB situation. Our team was ready to take the next step. We needed a QB...

Enter...Matt Flynn. I remember hearing the announcement over the radio in the car...I was happy and relieved. We had a QB now and he might be the guy...it was a joyous day on Seahawks.net! I remember how happy everyone was and how we were all looking forward to the season now that we had our guy. Looking back on it, it was the desperation we all felt that brought the great relief upon hearing the news that we had signed Matt Flynn. Then April came and "with the 75th pick the Seattle Seahawks select Russell Wilson, quarterback, Wisconsin...enter Russell Wilson.

Looking back on it now, it really was the most important draft pick in the history of the franchise. It was amazing the way that RW came in and literally took the QB job. It wasn't that Flynn played horribly, Russell just took advantage of every opportunity and excelled right from the start. Although he had a few rough patches in the beginning, the kid kept believing in himself and had everyone believing by the end of the year. It really is remarkable that in his first 3 years Russell Wilson led his team to within 30 seconds of the NFC championship game followed by 2 Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl championship. Is he elite? All the guy does is win and I'll be eternally grateful that John Schneider had the vision and belief to make him our QB. I have faith that our front office will find a way to work out his contract and in the end Russell Wilson will be a Seahawk for his entire career and win multiple championships. Russell said he'd do it and given his track record so far, I have no reason to doubt him.

Go Hawks!!

 

[Anthony!]

Love Russell Wilson and so do the Seahawks. So why hasn't there been a extension done? IMO it's because RW and his agent are looking to top Joe Flacco contract for 2016 and 2017. I sure they can make a case that RW deserves more money then Flacco, right? Flacco cap hit in 2016 is $28,550,000 and in 2017 $31,150,00.

http://overthecap.com/player/joe-flacco/1383/

Listening to posters saying they can't see RW asking for Aaron Roger type money, makes me want to say of course not....he wants Joe Flacco type money. That is what the hold out is IMO. $30,000,000 a year is a boatload of money, but you can't let your franchise QB walk and go back to the clipboard jesus type of QB. Not exceptable! So this is going be a long process and unless RW and his agent come down on their asking price the Seahawks will drag this out as long as it make financial sense. Then at the end they'll cave in and pay what it takes to keep him on the team, because it would be easier to rebuild the whole team from scratch with RW, then to find another franchise QB. Just my two cents worth.

Could be but it is speculation. I could easily say its because the Hawks do not want to p[ay more than 15 mil a season, and until they up to top 10 money a deal will not get done. I mean some of what JS has said can easily lead you to that conclusion. The reality is we do not know what the hold up is.

Speculation? Yes it is. However every thing points in this direction. RW is a pure pro business guy. It comes across on how he presents himself, what he says and he got some high ambitions. I believed he said he wanted to own a NFL team some day. So it should come to no surprise that he and his agent are shooting for the high mark.
Seahawks are not a cheapsake type of team, they will pay for great play. Sherman, Thomas, Lynch, and Chancellor all got great contracts. They seemed very confident they would get this deal done with RW. I think they would be more then happy to give him Aaron Roger type money. I think that is what they thought it would take. They under estimated RW ambitions.

That is why you hear JS talk about how they want to sign RW, but keep the team together. This is what the Seahawks are trying to sell RW on. Will it succeed? We'll see.

lots of assumptions. I would not bet on that being the issue at all.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

We will sign RW, he is not going to get away. I'll be dissapointed in Russell's camp if he is demanding top 3 QB money, as he will gut the future of our team. I still expect something in the 17-18 million range, not 20+ million.

 

[haroldseattle]

We will sign RW, he is not going to get away. I'll be dissapointed in Russell's camp if he is demanding top 3 QB money, as he will gut the future of our team. I still expect something in the 17-18 million range, not 20+ million.

We all wish he would take a team friendly contract, but by now it should be obvious that isn't going to happen. However your correct when you say the won't let him get away. Your 17-18 expectations are a homer dream. 20+ would be a relief. Expect something closer to 30 million.

 

[haroldseattle]

Love Russell Wilson and so do the Seahawks. So why hasn't there been a extension done? IMO it's because RW and his agent are looking to top Joe Flacco contract for 2016 and 2017. I sure they can make a case that RW deserves more money then Flacco, right? Flacco cap hit in 2016 is $28,550,000 and in 2017 $31,150,00.

http://overthecap.com/player/joe-flacco/1383/

Listening to posters saying they can't see RW asking for Aaron Roger type money, makes me want to say of course not....he wants Joe Flacco type money. That is what the hold out is IMO. $30,000,000 a year is a boatload of money, but you can't let your franchise QB walk and go back to the clipboard jesus type of QB. Not exceptable! So this is going be a long process and unless RW and his agent come down on their asking price the Seahawks will drag this out as long as it make financial sense. Then at the end they'll cave in and pay what it takes to keep him on the team, because it would be easier to rebuild the whole team from scratch with RW, then to find another franchise QB. Just my two cents worth.

Could be but it is speculation. I could easily say its because the Hawks do not want to p[ay more than 15 mil a season, and until they up to top 10 money a deal will not get done. I mean some of what JS has said can easily lead you to that conclusion. The reality is we do not know what the hold up is.

Speculation? Yes it is. However every thing points in this direction. RW is a pure pro business guy. It comes across on how he presents himself, what he says and he got some high ambitions. I believed he said he wanted to own a NFL team some day. So it should come to no surprise that he and his agent are shooting for the high mark.
Seahawks are not a cheapsake type of team, they will pay for great play. Sherman, Thomas, Lynch, and Chancellor all got great contracts. They seemed very confident they would get this deal done with RW. I think they would be more then happy to give him Aaron Roger type money. I think that is what they thought it would take. They under estimated RW ambitions.

That is why you hear JS talk about how they want to sign RW, but keep the team together. This is what the Seahawks are trying to sell RW on. Will it succeed? We'll see.

lots of assumptions. I would not bet on that being the issue at all.

You heard JS hint that it won't be out of the question to let RW walk. Not that I believe that for a minute, but it just shows how tough this has become. I find it hard to believe that JS would be saying things like this over a demand for AR type money. For god sakes Kaep is making what? 19 million? What's a bust like Cutler making? RW is better then Joe frigging Flacco. Flacco's contract is the fly in the ointment . When looking at contracts of young QBs Flacco contract is exactly what agents will be looking at, not a team friendly contract like AR.

 

[haroldseattle]

God help the Colts when they need to sign Luck to a extension.

 

[Anthony!]

Could be but it is speculation. I could easily say its because the Hawks do not want to p[ay more than 15 mil a season, and until they up to top 10 money a deal will not get done. I mean some of what JS has said can easily lead you to that conclusion. The reality is we do not know what the hold up is.

Speculation? Yes it is. However every thing points in this direction. RW is a pure pro business guy. It comes across on how he presents himself, what he says and he got some high ambitions. I believed he said he wanted to own a NFL team some day. So it should come to no surprise that he and his agent are shooting for the high mark.
Seahawks are not a cheapsake type of team, they will pay for great play. Sherman, Thomas, Lynch, and Chancellor all got great contracts. They seemed very confident they would get this deal done with RW. I think they would be more then happy to give him Aaron Roger type money. I think that is what they thought it would take. They under estimated RW ambitions.

That is why you hear JS talk about how they want to sign RW, but keep the team together. This is what the Seahawks are trying to sell RW on. Will it succeed? We'll see.

lots of assumptions. I would not bet on that being the issue at all.

You heard JS hint that it won't be out of the question to let RW walk. Not that I believe that for a minute, but it just shows how tough this has become. I find it hard to believe that JS would be saying things like this over a demand for AR type money. For god sakes Kaep is making what? 19 million? What's a bust like Cutler making? RW is better then Joe frigging Flacco. Flacco's contract is the fly in the ointment . When looking at contracts of young QBs Flacco contract is exactly what agents will be looking at, not a team friendly contract like AR.

And you heard JS say they want him to be their QB for a long long time, and Wilson say he wants to remain a Hawk. all you are doing is assuming, Again for all you know they only offered 15 mil a year, and they are the problem. You do not know. You have just decdid3e that Wilsons camp is the bad guy with no evidence at all.

 

[Anthony!]

We will sign RW, he is not going to get away. I'll be dissapointed in Russell's camp if he is demanding top 3 QB money, as he will gut the future of our team. I still expect something in the 17-18 million range, not 20+ million.

Agreed and I would be disappointed in our camp if we only offered middle of the pack money. Problem is we do not know what the issue is, It may not even be the dollars but how it is allocated and paid for all we know.

 

[TDOTSEAHAWK]

Although I entirely think that a deal will get done before 2017 and that Russell will be here for a long time, there is a lot of time between now and such a time as to when we would actually have to part ways with him - 3 seasons - before the franchise tag becomes completely prohibitive. In other words, it is too early to say what happens in that time. From Russ' perspective there is lots of incentive to get the deal done - one knee injury and his career could be very curtailed - so he would want that cash. At the end of the day, although Russ is amazing - I could see some potential scenarios where he isn't a Seahawk for life. They are a small minority, for sure, but they are there.

 

[haroldseattle]

Although I entirely think that a deal will get done before 2017 and that Russell will be here for a long time, there is a lot of time between now and such a time as to when we would actually have to part ways with him - 3 seasons - before the franchise tag becomes completely prohibitive. In other words, it is too early to say what happens in that time. From Russ' perspective there is lots of incentive to get the deal done - one knee injury and his career could be very curtailed - so he would want that cash. At the end of the day, although Russ is amazing - I could see some potential scenarios where he isn't a Seahawk for life. They are a small minority, for sure, but they are there.

They have this thing called insurance . Pretty common for QBs now a days. So those banking on RW worrying about a injury should just stop.

 

[haroldseattle]

Anthony! I hold the contracts given to Sherman, Thomas, etc as evidence that the Seahawks will pay for great play. Also let me be clear that I don't consider RW and his camp as bad guys. When your talking about signing a contract, that's the time to ask for what will make you happy. I hate it when a player starts moaning and groaning about their contract as soon as the ink dries.
The Seahawks and RW will come to a agreement, it's just going to be for more money then us fans ( and the Seahawks) thought it would be for. Should still work out OK with good drafting.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Anthony! I hold the contracts given to Sherman, Thomas, etc as evidence that the Seahawks will pay for great pay. Also let me be clear that I don't consider RW and his camp as bad guys. When your talking about signing a contract, that's the time to ask for what will make you happy. I hate it when a player starts moaning and groaning about their contract as soon as the ink dries.
The Seahawks and RW will come to a agreement, it's just going to be for more money then us fans ( and the Seahawks) thought it would be for. Should still work out OK with good drafting.

Good viewpoint and likely pretty much how it will all shake out.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

Just curous.....does anyone know what RW makes in endorsements, advertising, etc per year?

 

[haroldseattle]

Just curous.....does anyone know what RW makes in endorsements, advertising, etc per year?

Besides the point. I heard folks claim he could make a bunch more if he was in a market like say New York. What he makes on the side will have no impact in contract talks. Let me just add, I think RW wants to remain a Seahawk and he will at the end.