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Report: Russell Wilson Wants to be NFL’s Highest-Paid Player

Courtesy of USA Today Sports

The contract stalemate between Russell Wilson and his Seattle Seahawks seems to be much greater than originally anticipated. Initial reports following the 2014 season indicated that the two sides were likely going to be able to hammer out a long-term extension prior to training camp later this summer. Those reports gave in to other suggestions that the two sides were far apart in extension negotiations.

Since then, it appears that there might be a widening gap between the Super Bowl-winning quarterback and the franchise that selected him in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft.

A recent report by Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole underscores the potential rift by bringing to light exactly what Wilson’s demands are:

“Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is looking to become the highest-paid player in the NFL,” the insider indicated on Thursday. “According to the sources I’ve talked to, the contract demands by agent Mark Rodgers have exceeded the five-year, $110 million deal that Aaron Rodgers signed with the Green Bay Packers.”

The largest contract in the NFL today in terms of average salary is Rodgers at $22 million annually. Jay Cutler boasts the largest total contract at $126.7 million. Meanwhile, the total of $61 million Colin Kaepernick received in guaranteed money when he signed his deal prior to last season is the largest in the league. Though, it must be noted that the $61 million he received is in no way fully guaranteed. In fact, previous reports suggested that Wilson wants a contract structured more like Cutler’s than Kaepernick’s.

Let’s do a bit of inductive reasoning here. If Wilson wants an annual average of over $22 million on a deal structured similar to the one Cutler received, the contract demands his camp is making likely includes $154 million over seven seasons with well north of $61 million fully guaranteed.

Cole continued:

“Wilson is looking to become the highest-paid player, and expects that those contracts are going to explode for quarterbacks. In fact, Mark Rodgers said that even if Russell Wilson becomes the highest-paid player in the league, he expects that Andrew Luck, Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers will all exceed all of those contracts in the future.”

Wilson is paying his agent to not only focus on the 2015 season, but the quarterback’s contract health moving forward. With an expected salary cap increase over the next couple seasons, what might be the case in July of 2015 surely won’t be the case in July of 2017. Outside of the two sides being far apart in terms of the finances, that makes these negotiations even more compelling.

If Wilson does sign a new deal with Seattle, it will be the basis upon which all other contracts are structured. His agent knows this full well. Unfortunately for Wilson camp, the brass in the Pacific Northwest doesn’t appear to be ready to give into these lofty demands. That could make for an even more contentious relationship moving forward, especially if Seattle has to franchise Wilson next March.

Contract values provided by Spotrac.com

Photo: USA Today Sports

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