Russell Wilson and endorsements

Hear me out on this...

Is it at all possible that Russell is planning to stack up on these endorsement deals (his recent x-box tour) in order to be able to cut the Hawks a deal come contract time?

I mean, the guy already does things we've never expected from another player. He wants to be here. He wants a competitive team. He understands things like this and is the least selfish football guy I have ever seen. Is it possible? If so, wouldn't that be one of the most heroic team-first gestures in the history of sports?

Feel free to rip it apart--I know it's a stretch, but in think he's interesting and capable of something like this. Either way, I love the fact that he's ours!

Go Hawks!

There's no reason for him to give a deal. I don't care how nice the guy is he has an agent, holds all the cards, and the Hawks have plenty of cash. He's a team player on and off the field, he doesn't need to be one with his first big contract.

I certainly would like to see him get his pay day....but if it's in the way you're describing I would ecstatic. I can definitely see him doing something like this, but won't begrudge him if it doesn't. If there's anyone in the league to do this, it's certainly Russell Wilson without a doubt.

KARAVARUS":1wvnvouy said:

Hear me out on this...

Is it at all possible that Russell is planning to stack up on these endorsement deals (his recent x-box tour) in order to be able to cut the Hawks a deal come contract time?

I mean, the guy already does things we've never expected from another player. He wants to be here. He wants a competitive team. He understands things like this and is the least selfish football guy I have ever seen. Is it possible? If so, wouldn't that be one of the most heroic team-first gestures in the history of sports?

Feel free to rip it apart--I know it's a stretch, but in think he's interesting and capable of something like this. Either way, I love the fact that he's ours!

Go Hawks!

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This is the dream! I can't see that happening though, not for his first big contract, anyways. However, he did say his career goal was 4 Super Bowls....

The team's cash is irrelevant...SALARY CAP. To a degree not being a team player with his first big deal is not being a team player on/off the field. If he demands Flacco money and breaks the cap it will be back to mediocracy for Seattle.

Pay da man.

This is where Schneider will earn his money. He starts by paying Wilson as a top 5 signal caller.

People are going to scream like little girls when they see the players that will price themselves out of a Seahawk uniform. The crying about Robinson made me roll my eyes. If that move bothered you, you are in for a world of hurt. Schneider pays 12 players as a core and lets the rest go test the waters. The remaining roster must be filled in with rookie contracts. As I wrote earlier......this is where Schneider earns his paycheck.

This is how the modern NFL works.

The window for a championship will shrink......possibly not, based entirely on how Scneider/Carroll replenish the roster. Avril, Bennett, Browner, Rice, and possibly Unger are gone.

Make a list of 12 core players, then see who remains as possible departures (not under rookie contract).

Wilson
Lynch
Harvin
Thomas
Chancellor
Sherman
Okung
Wagner
Irvin
Wright
Tate
Clemmons


Others may have a different preference for a "core" group, but I'm just laying out an example for you. If a player is not in the top 12 and is not under a rookie contract, you might as well figure they will be testing the waters in free agency.


Edit:

For the reasons stated above, this has to be the year. This is the best chance Seattle has at a championship unless the front office continues to strike gold in the draft, especially in the mid rounds. Players like Jordan Hill and Tharold Simon have to come up big.

SonicHawk":26n9h60y said:

There's no reason for him to give a deal. I don't care how nice the guy is he has an agent, holds all the cards, and the Hawks have plenty of cash. He's a team player on and off the field, he doesn't need to be one with his first big contract.

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The agent holds all the cards with players that let them.

I don't see RW letting the agent decide much. Not saying he gives a deal but the decision will be Russels. I see him doing it for the chance to field a more competitive team plus knowledge that he will be hired by Seahawks after his career as a player...

Russell is a very smart football player, and he wants to be great and win multi championships.

He knows this is a team sport, and he isn't going to do everything himself.

For that very reason alone, I think he's going to take significantly less than what he's ultimately worth.

The angle that fans need to remember when they hope for a player to give their team a "hometown discount", is that is doesn't just affect them. The NFLPA and everyone who plays their position across the league would be hurt by that kind of move, that's why it doesn't happen very often and to a minor extent.

Let's say Russell gets an estimated market value of 20 million/year, but takes 15 million/year just because. That is going to affect the negotiations of every starting quarterback over the next couple years and the "going rate" will come down. It's just not a good move. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have all of our star players sign for the league minimum out of love and loyalty, but we need to be realistic. Russell is going to get PAID.

Seriously though, what is the going rate for a 25 year old QB phenom who just came off of a Superbowl win + MVP award??

^ applies much more to MLB where there is no hard cap. The total amount spent remains relatively unchanged and there are more than five qb's making the $20million per year which is what impacts anyone getting franchised.

It is a common argument for MLB

I suspect the Seahawks will pay him market value for a Franchise QB once he is able to re-do his contract. They will be very careful in how they proceed with working out his contract offer. They could try to play hardball and use his draft slotting to constrain their costs or they could identify QBs his same age and productivity to base their offer. The FO doesn't seem to have a problem giving folks big number contracts (i.e Harvin, Miller, Bryant, Rice and Clemons).

I don't expect Wilson to take a mid-level QB contract. I could see 16-18Mil/yr but wouldn't be surprised to see Flacco-like numbers. Just the way of the position. He isn't taking an 8-10M/yr deal unless he falls off the map in the next year or so.

Russ is in the players union right? They will not let him take less than he is worth. Like mick63 said it's pretty much now or never for this team. That's why the harvin thing, the suspensions hurt so bad. We need all we got every game start to finish.

NinjaHawk":wwxxcb68 said:

Let's say Russell gets an estimated market value of 20 million/year, but takes 15 million/year just because. That is going to affect the negotiations of every starting quarterback over the next couple years and the "going rate" will come down. It's just not a good move. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have all of our star players sign for the league minimum out of love and loyalty, but we need to be realistic. Russell is going to get PAID.

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This is the angle that Clayton was taking on the issue today. I wouldn't be surprised either way but obviously I'm hoping for the discount.

brimsalabim":299ugzcv said:

Russ is in the players union right? They will not let him take less than he is worth. Like mick63 said it's pretty much now or never for this team. That's why the harvin thing, the suspensions hurt so bad. We need all we got every game start to finish.

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Yeah the "now or never" thing is crazy. Teams with elite QBs are basically always in some sort of contention to break through and win it all. That said, this is one of our best chances and there's no question that it's important that we capitalize.

And no OP, it's super unlikely that Russell will give a Seattle discount. He's already playing at a really minimal contract and he absolutely should capitalize and get a massive contract once this steal of a contract is over with.

A lot of naive Seahawks fans... I don't recall any Seahawks ever giving the team a "discount." The only player to do that in NFL history is probably Brady... But that's probably due to the lack of championships since his big payday.

To think that a good guy would give the team a discount is laughable. This is a cutthroat league and it works on both sides. The Seahawks should negotiate the best deal to retain him and Wilson should ask for as much money as possible.

NinjaHawk":22mwx2oy said:

The angle that fans need to remember when they hope for a player to give their team a "hometown discount", is that is doesn't just affect them. The NFLPA and everyone who plays their position across the league would be hurt by that kind of move, that's why it doesn't happen very often and to a minor extent.

Let's say Russell gets an estimated market value of 20 million/year, but takes 15 million/year just because. That is going to affect the negotiations of every starting quarterback over the next couple years and the "going rate" will come down. It's just not a good move. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have all of our star players sign for the league minimum out of love and loyalty, but we need to be realistic. Russell is going to get PAID.

Seriously though, what is the going rate for a 25 year old QB phenom who just came off of a Superbowl win + MVP award??

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...and we are supposed to feel sorry for NFL Quarterbacks "only" getting $15 million a year? Just because Paul Allen has "deep pockets" doesn't mean that Russell asking for $22 million won't slam us into "cap hell" and we lose three key players. Personally, I see Russell having an open discussion with Pete and John regarding his salary and how they can keep as much of the team together as possible. Do we really want to duplicate the Ravens?

sammyc521":t18fds4v said:

A lot of naive Seahawks fans... I don't recall any Seahawks ever giving the team a "discount." The only player to do that in NFL history is probably Brady... But that's probably due to the lack of championships since his big payday.

To think that a good guy would give the team a discount is laughable. This is a cutthroat league and it works on both sides. The Seahawks should negotiate the best deal to retain him and Wilson should ask for as much money as possible.

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Do you really have to go into the whole naive thing, man? I'm just posing a discussion question. I thought I covered myself in the OP on that one. Goddamn.

Paul Allen just needs to pay Russ whatever he wants times ten, right into an offshore account that won't count against the cap.
Dirty? Yeah...

This is not the MLB - RW takes whatever he wants. Brady did it this year

Flacco, Brees, Ryan, Rodgers and Big Ben / Cam (after this year) all make enough that RW will not move the needle for a franchised player. That is all that matters.

Not sure where this belief that the union pushes against a $15m contract instead of a $20m contract comes from. They won't care as Sherman / Chancellor etc will get higher salaries as a result. If anything him evening out the pay scales would be better from a union perspective. There are only 15 top qb's in the league.....