On the surface, Russell Wilson's contract demands don't sound all that extreme. But under the surface, those demands could end up costing him at least $20 million.
Fieldgulls.com, citing news from Bleacher Report and CBS Sports, indicate that the Seattle Seahawks quarterback could enter training camp without a new contract and will play 2015 at his current salary of $1.542 million. That would include a forfeiture of almost $20 million cash up front as a signing bonus if he were to agree to a deal that would pay him $21 million annually.
NFL owners to blame for Russell Wilson's contract impasse with the Seattle Seahawks?
CBS Sports is reporting that Wilson and the Seahawks are unlikely to agree on a deal before training camp starts.
"I'd be very surprised if much changes in the Seahawks situation with quarterback Russell Wilson, and I don't see either side flinching now," Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports. "It would take a massive shift in terms of the kind of up-front money ownership is willing to spend to facilitate this deal, and contrary to the way this deal is being framed elsewhere, I continue to hear that the Seattle structure would be highly 'pay-as-you-go' and the true guaranteed money remains a significant obstacle."
Wilson wants a much larger up-front guarantee. The problem with is logic is his current salary.
"With Wilson's ridiculously low salary of $1.5M due this year on his rookie deal, the full 'up front' money thing is a sticking point," fieldgulls.com is reporting. "Most top-tier quarterbacks that have received contract extensions were, at the time, already due to be making double-digit-million dollar salaries in their final year."
Bleacher report's Jason Cole confirmed earlier reports from NFL.com and Pro Football Talk that Wilson was willing to come down on his demands to become the highest player in the league in exchange for a much heftier up-front guarantee.
"Wilson has been willing to come down on his demand to be the highest player in the league," Cole said. "In return, however, he's expecting that the guarantee on this deal will come up.
"The Seahawks, a month ago, offered [to Wilson] the Carolina Panthers deal that they gave to Cam Newton, which basically guaranteed $54M and was worth $21M per year. What Wilson is expecting at this point in time is to get somewhere above Ndamukong Suh's $60M figure for a guarantee, according to a source that I've talked to, and basically re-set the notion of where a guarantee should be for a quarterback, and for all players, for that matter."
The Seahawks' ability to slap the franchise tag on Wilson gives them all the power in the negotiation process for the next two years. And most NFL contracts are structured so that players receive only a partial guarantee of the money they sign to receive.
According to fieldgulls.com, Newton's $54 million guaranteed - or $60 million, which fieldgulls.com reported was originally spelled out in Newton's deal - actually includes only $31 in full guarantees.
So if Wilson doesn't sign now, he could stand to lose money over the next three seasons and have to hope that he plays at the same level without incurring injury to recoup what he'll lose.
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