Russell Wilson‘s last contract negotiations proved quite the test for both sides, and the Seahawks quarterback made significant strides as a player in the years since. And the NFL’s quarterback salary landscape looks remarkably different now than it did in 2015.

With their season over and their franchise cornerstone entering a contract year, the Seahawks will soon begin extension talks, Pete Carroll said during a radio interview with 710 Seattle (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, on Twitter).

The last update provided on these looming talks came in September, when Wilson’s camp had not received any word the Seahawks were progressing on a new deal. Now that Wilson is in a contract year, that will change. But this may take a while. As of last offseason, Wilson expected this process to end with the Seahawks franchise-tagging him in 2020.

Wilson signed a four-year, $87.6MM deal with the Seahawks in July 2015. That re-up has since been surpassed by 10 other quarterbacks. With two passers now making at least $30MM per year, Wilson is unlikely to sign for less than that, especially considering he just turned 30. He should still be in his prime when this his third contract concludes. And with the Seahawks moving on from numerous high-profile veterans, making 2018 their first fully Wilson-centric team (and an unexpected playoff entrant, at that), the quarterback’s camp will surely demand their client be compensated like similar franchise centerpieces across the league.

Although Wilson was a two-time NFC champion when he signed his most recent Seattle deal, he compiled his first two 4,000-yard seasons over the course of that pact while throwing at least 34 touchdown passes three times in that span as well.

The Seahawks have not approached star quarterback Russell Wilson to discuss a new contract, and there are currently no plans to have such a discussion, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes. Wilson is under club control through 2019, and while Seattle generally does not redo deals that have multiple years remaining, the team has made a few exceptions to that organizational philosophy in the past, and one might expect that Wilson would be a player for whom the Seahawks would make such an exception. Indeed, he has as much time left on his current contract as Aaron Rodgers had when he signed his recent massive extension with the Packers.

However, we did hear earlier this year that negotiations between Wilson and Seattle — if they do end up happening at some point in the future — are not expected to be pretty, and Wilson himself said that he expects to be hit with the franchise tag in 2020. But as La Canfora points out, going year-to-year with the franchise tag for a player like Wilson is probably not the best strategy, and allowing him to enter the final year of his contract at a time when contract values continue to soar and the cap continues to increase significantly may not be the wisest move either.

It could be that Seattle simply does not plan to hang on to Wilson beyond 2019. The team is no longer the powerhouse it was earlier this decade, and Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times recently wrote that the Seahawks’ performance in 2018 could go a long way in determining the futures of both Wilson and head coach Pete Carroll in Seattle. Although Condotta acknowledged that it would be difficult to imagine the Seahawks not making every effort to keep Wilson, he noted that the franchise’s future looks as unclear as at any time since Wilson arrived in 2012.

It is also worth noting that the Seahawks were at their dominant best when Wilson was playing under his rookie deal, so if the club does choose to rebuild, it could seek to leverage Wilson as part of those efforts. Indeed, La Canfora says that some GMs believe Seattle could get up to three first-round picks in exchange for Wilson if it puts him on the trading block.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson‘s current contract runs through the 2019 campaign, but he expects to be in Seattle beyond next season. Wilson and his camp expect the Seahawks to deploy the franchise tag in 2020, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

As expected, the quarterback contract landscape has seen increased salaries this year, as Matt Ryan last week topped Kirk Cousins as the NFL’s highest-paid player. Ryan received nearly $100M in full guarantees and collect $30MM annually on his new deal, setting new marks at the position. Packers signal-caller Aaron Rodgers is expected to receive an extension in the near future, and he’ll surely move past Ryan in both guaranteed money and per-year average.

Wilson, 29, is currently earning $21.9MM per season under the terms of the deal he signed in 2015, a figure which ranks 11th among quarterbacks. If he receives the franchise tag in 2020, Wilson would be entitled to a 20% raise over his 2019 cap charge, meaning the tender would be worth $30.34MM. If Seattle used the tag again in 2021, it would cost roughly $36.41MM.

Previous reports have indicated negotiations between Wilson and the Seahawks could be contentious. Seattle reportedly explored the 2018 crop of quarterback prospects, and although the club ultimately selected only seventh-round Alex McGough, Wilson’s team contacted the Seahawks as to why they were interested in this year’s passers.