Wilson's contract talks: troubles in Seattle?

Russell Wilson contract talk: Just negotiating as usual or something to worry about?

Bob Condotta
May 7, 2015

http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/russell-wilson-contract-talk-just-negotiating-as-usual-or-something-to-worry-about/

Russell Wilson’s contract is suddenly the subject of a lot of conversation. But the time to worry about it getting done is still a ways away.

Maybe it’s because Seattle doesn’t have a basketball team that could be on a long playoff run right about now to talk about anymore. Or maybe it’s because the Mariners are stumbling out of the gate and everybody really wants to avoid talking about that

Whatever the case, discussion of Russell Wilson’s contract extension suddenly dominated all the radio talk shows in Seattle Thursday thanks to a couple of different statements and recent reports.

Jason La Confora of CBSSports.com, for instance, said on KJR-AM this morning that Wilson and the Seahawks are “nowhere close” to a deal. That came after John Clayton of ESPN said earlier in the week that Seattle is believed to have offered $80 million for four years (which is included in this well-done examination of the issue from Danny O’Neil of 710 ESPN Seattle).

All of that led to much talk show and social media discussion Thursday and attendant speculation about where this goes next.

As O’Neil notes, it was easy to think this deal would be done, well, easily since the Seahawks have a recent track record of getting contract extensions signed, sealed and delivered almost before anyone knew negotiations had even begun (think Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, among others).

But Wilson’s is the kind of contract the Seahawks have never dealt with before, and he’s in one of the more advantageous situations of any player in recent NFL history as a winner of a Super Bowl at such a young age. This was destined to take some time.

So the question is whether some of the back and forth — Pete Carroll saying on ESPN last weekend that the team was waiting to hear from Wilson’s side and Wilson responding with a Tweet that he’d rather patiently wait than rush into something that isn’t best for his life — is just what should be expected at this point, or something more?

If the reports of Seattle’s offer are true, well it only makes some sense that the Seahawks would start off low, especially early in the negotiations. And if the rumblings that Wilson wants the moon — or more specific, a contract that would pay him as much as anybody in the NFL, which has been rumored for months now — then that makes sense, too.

Russell Wilson didn’t overcome what he has to get to where he is by not having a mammoth belief in himself and his abilities and that’s not something he should be expected to just set aside once it comes to contracts. If he thinks he can be as good as any quarterback in NFL history — which he has said is his goal — then he shouldn’t really be blamed for wanting to get paid like it.

John Schneider’s comment earlier this year about thinking “outside the box” was widely interpreted as Wilson being willing to take less money to help the Seahawks for salary cap reasons. But I’m not sure that’s really what Schneider meant — or certainly, not quite as concretely as many seemed to take it, that Wilson would voluntarily take a less-than-market deal because that’s what the team wants. Being willing to do things structurally to help the team is different than just waving goodbye to millions of dollars.

While Seahawks’ fans may have grown accustomed to these things getting done early and easily, expectations may simply have to change for this one.

The reality is that the situation is nowhere yet near urgent.

Each side would probably like this done by the time training camp begins — which will likely be around July 31 or so.

Wilson, if all the reports are true about being willing to play out the season and see what happens, may have a lot more time on his side in this than the Seahawks.

But the Seahawks still have time, as well.

If it gets to August and nothing is then, then that might be the time to worry.