We’re almost a week away from the April 15 deadline that Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has set for a new contract, but Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times hears that there has been very little progress between player and team as of yet. That is despite the fact that the Seahawks were reportedly aware of the deadline in January, and despite the fact that head coach Pete Carroll indicated that extension talks would begin in January (which did not actually happen).
Of course, it’s not as if the two sides are somehow precluded from working out a deal after the April 15 deadline, which has no significance other than being the start of the Seahawks’ offseason training program. Condotta suggests that Wilson set the deadline simply because he wants to avoid an offseason of speculation about his contract, and because it’s unlikely that the quarterback market is going to change much between April and July, so it doesn’t necessarily make sense to wait if he can avoid it.
Additionally, both Wilson and the Seahawks know that Wilson has more leverage than he did when he signed his last extension in 2015, and Wilson likewise knows that the team is more apt to go year-to-year with the franchise tag. Wilson has already said that he would not hold out if he is hit with the tag, and given the success that Kirk Cousins had going year-to-year, it makes sense that a player like Wilson would be open to the idea.
As Condotta observes, Wilson also would not hold out this year if his April 15 deadline passes without a new contract in place. But if that happens, the “strong implication” is that the 30-year-old passer would tell the team that he doesn’t want to negotiate again until after the 2019 season is over. And that may be just fine with the Seahawks, who could put the franchise tag on Wilson in 2020 and 2021. The QB franchise tender for those two seasons are projected to come in at $30.6MM and $35MM, respectively, and those numbers are not too far removed from what Wilson would get under a new contract anyway. Plus, Wilson would still be able to hit the open market at age 33 — a franchise tag in 2022 would come in at an unpalatable $52MM — and 2021 is the last year of Carroll’s current contract. The head coach will be 70 at that point, and he may choose to call it a career.
Indeed, if Wilson and the Seahawks are able to hammer out a new deal, the current thinking is that it would only be a three-year pact that runs through the 2021 season. There is speculation that the deal would be worth $100MM guaranteed, which would give Wilson the satisfaction of setting new precedents while allowing him to get at least one more big payday three years down the road.
they need to make it that a player can’t be tagged more than once. kind of ridiculous how teams can add an extra 2 years of control over most guys unless they decide to hold out
Actually a player can be tagged 3 times. And the tag goes back well into the 90’s. Clearly the NFLPA is fine with the tags. They’ve had multiple opportunities to have to disused and, for some reason, choose to leave it be.
As for the tags, I think they’re fine. Last year Bortles and OBJ singed multi year extensions w/ their clubs and were moved/let go after one season. Why worry about ‘long term deals’ when you can be tagged and paid top 3% of your position?
You answered your own question in the second sentence of your statement, with what happened to Bortles. Players want security, not one/two year paydays that can end if you get injured. Not really that hard to understand.
Tell me a player that has lived out a true 4-5 year deal? Other then elite QB’s, its rare. Take the deals every year. Then factor in the salary cap space rising each year. By year 3 of a deal, it looks like the player is underpaid at their position. AB, & Julio come to mind on that.
Matt Stafford went from the top paid QB in 2017, to now, the top 5 and still has 3 years remaining on it. By 2021, he’ll be below the top 10. The difference from 5 to 1 is $27m to $33.5m in 2 years. Keep believing long term deals are best for the players.
I never said one thing about long term deals, I said security, which means guaranteed money, which = security. If players can get all of that security in first two years, so be it. It’s much easier to use a QB as your example, because they’re the least likely to suffer major injuries, excluding Alex Smith.
The security of franchise tags is the best route then. It’s fully guaranteed annually with huge raises (15-20% increases).
We can argue back and forth, but I’d sign the tag the minute it was placed on me. Look no further than Cousins. By all accounts, he’s a mediocre QB. But with 2 tags and a short 3 year deal, he is killing it! Plus, he’ll only be 33 when the Vikes contract is up. Same deal for the former Rams CB; 2 tags followed by a 3 year deal w/ the Jets last offseason.
In a sport where it’s year to year no matter what your contract says, getting paid in the top 3 of your position is the most lucrative way to go. That’s just my opinion.
You keep naming QB’s, which like I said, are less likely to suffer serious injuries. As a RB, if Bell signs that 14.5 second Franchise tender and tears ACL, you think he gets another 28mil guaranteed? Of course, if you’re QB, the Franchise looks very appealing, and I wouldn’t blame any QB for re-upping those tags