KJ Wright's Contract (Long Post)

I've heard a lot of people complain about this deal and the money that came with it. And his name was brought up in the Suh thread with some negativity wrapped around it.

Which made me look back into Wright's contract to explore a possible trade scenario since Nortons in Oak and Quinn is in Atl. Both could probably use a high character now veteran leader like Wright as a coach-to-player bridge. And that money could be used elsewhere like for Suh...just because I like exploring out of the box idealism just for the differing perspective.

However, Wright is untradeable for his first two years. It would probably take a high 2016 draft pick (3 round) plus a low round 2015 (5-6 round) to convince the Seahawks to swallow 4 million in dead cap in 2015. Although it could be worth it if they wanted to free up future cap in 2016 and so forth but I doubt the Seahawks do that to a player after signing him... Unless Norton/Quinn absolutely wanted him.

Looking at the numbers in Wright's contract, its essentialhardworkear deal.

3 years for 18.8 M.

Cap Hit/ Savings/ Dead Money (in Millions)
1: 4.75/ 0.75/ 4.00
2: 6.25/ 3.25/ 3.00
3: 6.80/ 4.80/ 2.00
4: 8.20/ 7.20/ 1.00

It comes out to 18.8 because I dont think Wright sees that final year hence the Seahawks taking that 1 mil of dead cap.

Across three years thats 6.27 apy.

If there is no guaranteed language in the contract going into year three, Seahawks could still cut Wright aftet 2 years using a June 1st designation to spread a 2 mil dead cap hit equally amongst the 2017 and 18 seasons. Saving 13 million altogether.

But his contract essentially becomes a 2 yr, 13 mil deal.

Wright currently has the 2nd highest per year contract out of all 4-3 LBs acccording to overthecap.com where Im sourcing all the numbers from. He ranks 21st out of all LBs.

But technically his extentsion still worked the same like Earls and Shermans. Wright recieved a 1m cap hit in 2014 for his signing bonus.

So really the deal that he signed was

5 yr for about 28.6 m = 5.72 apy

Throw out that 7.2m on the last year its:

4 yr for about 21.4m = 5.35 apy

5.35 would have been 6th out of OLBs and 34th out of all LBs.

Wright as been a productive, reliable starter and conssumate team player pretty much since his rookie year. Wright's immediate presence in 2011 flipped Aaron Curry into a pair of draft picks: JR Sweezy and Tharold Simon. (To note doesnt look great on paper since Wright and Simon gave up 3 of 4 TDs in SBXLIX but...) thats 2 solid starters and a potentially promising young corner stemming from Wright's hardwork (as well as JS and the coaches).

But most importantly the guy has been a leader since day 1... Being smart and versatile enough to play all three LB positions when needed but Wright was also there for a rookie Bobby Wagner ushering him along until Wags was confident enough to run the defense and call the plays.

So looking at the overall picture... Guys coming off those Rookie Scale contracts are going to get paid just a little bit more for what they've done in exceeding expectations as well as paid for future expectations.

Wright's lifetime work combining both contracts is

8 yrs for about 29.5 = 3.69m apy

Minus the last year of current deal...

7 yrs for about 22.3 = 3.19m apy.

Just looking into the bigger picture just seems a lot of hand-wringing over the contract when more or less Wright is just getting what he deserves and obviously the Seahawks felt that he did deserve what he got and that he was valuable enough to keep.

I have no issue with them extending him. He's a 3 down LB and is very good in coverage (albeit he did get burned by Gronk but that happens). Plus, he can play in the middle, which he did when Wagner was out.

I think he is very replaceable and overrated by fellow 12s. I wasn't happy when we extended him too early.

Pandion Haliaetus":2dtmzhcm said:

IJust looking into the bigger picture just seems a lot of hand-wringing over the contract when more or less Wright is just getting what he deserves and obviously the Seahawks felt that he did deserve what he got and that he was valuable enough to keep.

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Great post Pandion. When you break down the structure of the deal like you did it really makes a lot of sense. They left themselves a lot of options with the structure of the deal and ultimately the deal will end up paying KJ right about what you'd expect (fair market value), or maybe even a little less actually.

Long post? This has got to be your shortest post ever.

It doesn't surprise me that some can not recognize or get their arms around the value of KJ Wright. The hand-wringing reminds me of the Kam Chancellor extension. There are those who still "wring" their hands over the Chancellor contract.

With regards to Wright, I have yet to foresee a time when the supply of exceptionally instinctive and good 3-4 sized linebackers catches up with the demand.

Jville":21vwycsv said:

It doesn't surprise me that some can not recognize or get their arms around the value of KJ Wright. The hand-wringing reminds me of the Kam Chancellor extension. There are those who still "wring" their hands over the Chancellor contract.

With regards to Wright, I have yet to foresee a time when the supply of good 3-4 sized linebackers catches up with the demand.

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Heck, theres still the occasional poster that still thinks Kam should be moved to LB.

I honestly thought KJ was a good example of the caliber of player that Seattle may let walk free when their rookie deal expires.

Not that I thought the extension wasn't warranted. Just that he is a good/not great player who kind of fits the type of talents Seattle is going to have to continually reload on. Not unique or irreplaceable. And certainly a position where good replacements can be found in day three, as it's a position that isn't heavily overdrafted year to year.

I think KJ Wright has become somewhat unique.

He is the tallest and longest of any linebacker they have had on a Carroll roster. His instincts and grasp of the game exceeds that of most. His physical attitude and commitment are infectious. He is a proven mentor of incoming linebackers. All of that pointed to his second contract and recognition as a core player.

I can't see us inking him to an extension only to trade him.. that wouldn't make much sense.

dopeboy206":6qtn34es said:

I think he is very replaceable and overrated by fellow 12s. I wasn't happy when we extended him too early.

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12s didnt give him a contract, the Seahawks did, so that makes your comment totally useless.

Hasselbeck":3ebkwznr said:

I can't see us inking him to an extension only to trade him.. that wouldn't make much sense.

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Exactly what I said for the most part. I was merely entertaining the idea of it to provide perspective to unload money.

Pandion Haliaetus":lbzneh9i said:

Hasselbeck":lbzneh9i said:

I can't see us inking him to an extension only to trade him.. that wouldn't make much sense.

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Exactly what I said for the most part. I was merely entertaining the idea of it to provide perspective to unload money.

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What would the cap savings be on trading Mebane? I know the number on cutting him.. but does that go up if we traded him?

Could see the Falcons or Jaguars being interested in such a move.. and obviously this would only happen if we had Suh secured

What do linemen have to do with a thread about a linebacker?

There are already two Suh threads here >>> [urltargetblank]http://seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=108505[/urltargetblank] and here >>> [urltargetblank]http://seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=108680[/urltargetblank]

Jville":2otmz5oe said:

What do linemen have to do with a thread about a linebacker?

There are already two Suh threads here >>> [urltargetblank]http://seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=108505[/urltargetblank] and here >>> [urltargetblank]http://seahawks.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=108680[/urltargetblank]

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Um.. because Suh requires money, and KJ Wright just got money.

I think Wright got paid for a number of reasons:

1. He's a very good player overall
2. He is a 3-down player
3. He can play all three LB positions
4. He's smart, professional, and a leader
5. He's relatively young and healthy

He's not flashy, and I admit I was really excited to see KPL at the Will linebacker spot - his instincts and athleticism open up a lot of possibilities for the defense - but I think this was a smart signing. KPL to this point has been injury-prone and KJ provides a security blanket to the whole group with his versatility.

I also think that, like the Kam signing, the organization wanted to send a message that if you work hard and are patient and professional you will be rewarded. Just like how cutting Percy Harvin sent a message about behaving the opposite way.

Trading Mebane saves the same as cutting him 5.5m.

His deal had relatively low signing bonus at just $1m or 200k per.

But if it could be done I would love for the Seahawks to re-structure and extend him to a 3 yr deal. Something like a 3 yr, 9 m deal that would give him 3.3 m of new money. Give him a signing bonus of 2.4 m. Or 800k per.

1st yr cap hit at 3m:

2m base gtd + 800k sb + 200k original sb

Saves 2.7 m off 2015 cap but he would make 4.6m in guaranteed money in 2015 compared to only 200k he got when he re-signed. So a little security there.

2nd and 3rd Year Cap Hits at 3 m each.
700k roster bonus + 1.5m base + 800k sb

Seahawks could cut him if hes damaged goods with a June 1st designation and prorate his dead cap hit 1.6m evenly into the the 2016 and 2017 seasons of just 800k per with little affect on the cap saving 4.4m over 2 yrs.

If Mebane starts in 2016/2017, you get a bargain... If not then you get quality rotational depth.

There is no 4-3 OLB in the NFL currently worth the deal that KJ Wright got. The position is just too replaceable. The difference between the best 4-3 OLB in the league and the league average is possibly less than any other position on the field. If we would have drafted a 3rd rounder and a 5th rounder and let them compete for the position, one of them would have been at least 90% of KJ Wright. However, he got the deal because the front office wants to prove that they take care of their own. Is that message worth it? We'll find out, but strictly on the field, that money could have been used in better ways, and I think KJ Wright is one of the elite or near elite LB's in the game.

And thus the expectation that Kevin Pierre-Louis will replace Malcolm Smith. I would think both are characterized as 4-3 OLBs.

However, Wright has been identified as a 3-4 linebacker playing in hybrid defense that uses 4-3 principles. He is different. I would think that Bruce Irvin is now also viewed as a full time 3-4 sized OLB playing in Carroll's hybrid defense that uses 4-3 principles.

By the way, those descriptions and language are from coaching interviews of the recent past.

Pandion Haliaetus":1e2rcp9k said:

Trading Mebane saves the same as cutting him 5.5m.

His deal had relatively low signing bonus at just $1m or 200k per.

But if it could be done I would love for the Seahawks to re-structure and extend him to a 3 yr deal. Something like a 3 yr, 9 m deal that would give him 3.3 m of new money. Give him a signing bonus of 2.4 m. Or 800k per.

1st yr cap hit at 3m:

2m base gtd + 800k sb + 200k original sb

Saves 2.7 m off 2015 cap but he would make 4.6m in guaranteed money in 2015 compared to only 200k he got when he re-signed. So a little security there.

2nd and 3rd Year Cap Hits at 3 m each.
700k roster bonus + 1.5m base + 800k sb

Seahawks could cut him if hes damaged goods with a June 1st designation and prorate his dead cap hit 1.6m evenly into the the 2016 and 2017 seasons of just 800k per with little affect on the cap saving 4.4m over 2 yrs.

If Mebane starts in 2016/2017, you get a bargain... If not then you get quality rotational depth.

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I'd like to see us keep Mebane. Seriously, he was very good last year until he got hurt, and he's normally very healthy.

Also, imagine for a minute Mebane and Suh lined up next to each other. :3: