San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick signed a team-friendly contract extension prior to last season. While the deal called for $61 million in guarantees, it enables San Francisco to get out from under the deal every year without paying out any guaranteed cash beyond that season. Kaepernick’s deal also has annual de-escalator terms should he not reach certain thresholds.
It’s not too much of a surprise that Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is not interested in a contract that’s structured similarly to his NFC West counterpart.
Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole is reporting that Wilson, who is in the midst of a contract standstill with Seattle, is looking to sign an extension that’s structured more like the seven-year, $126.7 million deal Jay Cutler signed with the Chicago Bears back in January of 2014.
“As the Russell Wilson negotiations with the Seattle Seahawks progress, there’s a very interesting connection between Russell Wilson and Jay Cutler. And that is that Wilson used to be represented by Bus Cook. Bus Cook is the agent for Jay Cutler,” Cole said, via Bleacher Report. “Cook is the one that negotiated Cutler’s seven-year, $126.7 million deal, which includes $54 million in guarantees, $48 million of that which has already been fully guaranteed.”
Wilson may have parted ways with Cook earlier this year, but this is an interesting connection to look at. However, it’s not necessarily an indication that there’s a connection between Cutler’s contract and what Wilson is looking to receive.
Cole then checked in on the broader connection a bit later by indicating that the starting-off point for any negotiation with Wilson is that $48 million that was fully guaranteed to Cutler. Prior to parting ways, Cook pushed really hard for Wilson not to take a deal similar to the way Kaepernick’s was structured. And while Wilson is now represented by his former baseball agent, Mark Rodgers, he has apparently taken Cook’s advice to heart.
So in order for Wilson to take Seattle seriously in any potential negotiations, he’s likely going to have to be offered $48 million fully guaranteed without any offsets. Of course, Wilson’s value is much higher than that of Cutler, so the number is going to have to fall in line with that value.
More than the specific numbers here, it’s all about Wilson wanting Seattle to throw a ton of fully guaranteed money his way. That could potentially lead to a stalemate moving forward.
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