Tag Archives: Russell Wilson

Hawks will keep running, but will Wilson & Schotty be better?

Logo -- CincinnatiAs the Seahawks open the season, one of the major points to watch will be the evolution of Russell Wilson and a fully Baldwin-less offense in Year 2 under Brian Schottenheimer.

The Seahawks put a lot of resources (financial and draft) into their passing game in the offseason, which led some to suggest (or hope) they are now building entirely around Wilson and are going to throw the ball all over the yard.

Clearly, people who think Carroll is going to sway from his run-focused approach are dreaming — and not really paying attention. Remember, Carroll is all about that circle of toughness — imposing his will on both sides of the ball.

As Carroll recently told 710 ESPN: “We want to play off the running game. … We want to run the heck out of the football. We love that part of the game, but we love everything that comes off that.

“We hopefully are going to show you a wide-open attack that makes you have to defend the run and makes you have to defend Russell sitting back there bombing footballs. We want to get the ball down the field and attack the heck out of it. That’s a big deal to us.

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Why Wagner and not Thomas & Clark?

Training camp logo2The season is still over a month away, but the Seahawks already have tallied a bunch of W’s — Wilson, Wright and now Wagner.

With his $54 million deal, Bobby Wagner joined Russell Wilson ($140 million) and K.J. Wright ($15.5 million) as rare “keepers” for a Seattle club that has undergone some major changes over the past two offseasons.

The Seahawks were wise to hand third deals to all three W’s, but some wonder why they got paid and Earl Thomas and Frank Clark didn’t. Why pay a middle linebacker $18 million a year but refuse to pay your star safety and pass rusher, leaving you with no other established standouts on defense?

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Wilson did not want to play hardball

Salary cap logoMark Rodgers wanted to play hardball with the Seahawks, and Russell Wilson did not.

From Peter King’s podcast: Rodgers, a baseball agent who is used to fully guaranteed contracts, was pushing the cap percentage idea for Wilson’s deal and wanted the quarterback to embrace the “play on the tag” strategy to try to force Seattle to go along with the cap concept.

But the Seahawks were not going for it. And, by the end, neither was Wilson.

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Season success will be determined in prime time

2019 scheduleSeattle’s 2019 season will be defined in prime time in November and December.

The Seahawks got a very balanced schedule, highlighted by alternating home and road games through the first 14 weeks and four straight night games in the second half of the season.

The Hawks will play five prime-time games overall, including two against the division rival Rams.

Seattle also has four 10 a.m. games, but Pete Carroll doesn’t care (ask him). His teams are 13-11 in 10 a.m. starts (playoffs included) since Russell Wilson arrived, and they have won seven of the last nine (all three in 2018).

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Wilson gets record deal, team gets its way

Wilson signing contractRussell Wilson apparently really did want to stay in Seattle — so much so that he gave the Seahawks a pretty good deal.

If reports on the money are correct, the Seahawks basically tore up Wilson’s contract and gave him a new five-year pact worth $157 million.

Wilson apparently gave up fully guaranteed money for a record signing bonus ($65 million), overall guarantees ($107 million) and annual average ($35 million on the new four years).

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What a salary cap-based contract could look like for Wilson

Salary cap logoRussell Wilson apparently does indeed want his new contract to be tied to a percentage of the salary cap.

We had thought he just wanted $35 million a year and at least 63 percent guaranteed at signing, based on what insider Jake Heaps said. But he wants all of the above — which is quite a demand.

The Seahawks apparently are willing to hit the APY, but would they guarantee a percentage of the cap — either entirely or for part of the deal?

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Trade Wilson? Schneider never deals his stars

Wilson and SchneiderThe Seahawks don’t want to trade Russell Wilson, and Wilson doesn’t want to be traded. Yet the ridiculous rumors continue that Seattle might move its franchise quarterback.

ESPN’s football reporters keep talking about the possibility, and recent Raiders coach Jack Del Rio chimed in about it. Jason La Canfora, whose reports about Wilson’s contract have all been negative, posited some trade ideas from “a smart football guy.” And Pro Football Talk, similarly pessimistic about a deal, offered teams that should call Seattle.

All of those people are forgetting one thing: John Schneider NEVER trades a premier player when he has any value. He keeps him to the bitter end. So it would be a stunner if he even considered dealing Wilson.

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Explaining (and debunking) a cap-percentage deal

Salary cap logoEveryone has a take on Russell Wilson and his contract. And some of them are pretty chuckleheaded.

Like the ESPN guys (and many fans) talking about Seattle trading Wilson.

Or the local radio guy who compared Wilson to redneck NBA thief Clay Bennett — basically calling the quarterback a liar who is trying to make the team look bad and really wants to play on the tag until the new CBA kicks in.

Or the lawyer turned sensationalist NFL blogger whose latest conspiracy theory has Wilson wanting to play on the tag for two years and then leave Seattle. Or (just in case that one is wrong) the blogger also has the QB trying to push a new contract tactic.

We all know Wilson wants to play his whole career in Seattle — he has said it many times — so we’ll ignore those first three lame takes. But let’s explain that contract scheme before we dismiss it.

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Are Hawks ‘guaranteed’ to miss April 15 deadline?

Salary cap logoGuaranteed money is the key to any contract, and it’s the most important thing to Russell Wilson in his new deal. It also figures to be the thing that could delay an agreement.

When he signed his first extension in 2015, Wilson became the No. 2 NFL player in average salary ($21.9 million), right behind Aaron Rodgers ($22 million). But he still trailed a handful of quarterbacks in guaranteed money.

With a dozen QBs having gotten new deals since Wilson was paid, he now ranks 15th in guaranteed part of the total deal (36.2 percent) and 17th in guaranteed money per year ($7.9 million) — according to figures compiled by OverTheCap.com.

Those are the two best ways to measure contract values, and Wilson is aiming for the top marks in those categories now. Kirk Cousins has his entire $28 million per year guaranteed, and Matt Ryan has 63 percent of his deal guaranteed, at $18.9 million per year.

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Another deadline: Will Hawks pay Wilson top dollar this time?

Wilson signing contractIf the Seahawks were to offer Russell Wilson $105 million guaranteed over three years, it sounds like he might take it.

Just like 2015, Wilson has set a deadline for a new deal — it’s just earlier this time. Unlike 2015, though, he wants to be the highest-paid player in the NFL — no second fiddle to Aaron Rodgers — and have the entire thing fully guaranteed, according to Jake Heaps on 710 ESPN.

But there seems to be a concern that Pete Carroll and John Schneider won’t put their money where their complimentary mouths are.

Continue reading Another deadline: Will Hawks pay Wilson top dollar this time? →