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Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks seem to be at a serious stand-off over this long-term contract for the Super Bowl-winning quarterback — and things just took a serious twist that made it a whole lot juicier. That’s because, after Wilson allegedly gave the only team he’s ever played for a deadline of today, April 15, to get a new deal done, there’s a new report that says Russell Wilson won’t even talk to the team about a long-term deal if the agreement doesn’t come today. That’s some serious pressure, isn’t it?
The news comes from longtime NFL reporter Peter King, who, in his Football Morning in America column on NBC Sports, goes into more details about the current situation between the Seahawks and Russell Wilson. Here’s what King had to say, according to his sources.
“Today’s a big day in the Pacific Northwest if you take Wilson and [his agent Mark Rodgers] at their word, that—according to a source close to the talks—they say they won’t do a long-term deal with the Seahawks if it’s not done by tonight. Read that last sentence again. I didn’t mean they’d put off further talks on a new contract till 2020 if it’s not done by tonight. I meant Wilson and Rodgers don’t plan to negotiate further with the Seahawks, period. My source says they’ve told GM John Schneider it has to be done now, or not at all.”
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“If it does get done, my source says the contract would likely include devices to adjust future years of the deal based on how high the cap goes up year to year, or based on new revenue streams (gambling revenue, for example, or a TV contract that explodes). If it is not done, it means the Seahawks have determined Wilson isn’t worth setting such a precedent. (No NFL player’s contract fluctuates based on cap increases or increases in the league’s bottom line unknown at the time of signing.)”
So, basically, there’s a couple of scenarios that Russell Wilson’s reportedly giving the Seattle Seahawks: either give me my money by end of day today, or seriously consider trading me elsewhere — with the biggest rumor being floated out there having the Pro Bowler landing in New York. That’s something that Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu briefly tweeted about.
Russ wants New York. But you ain’t heard that from T.. https://t.co/AWGBUAjaWj
— Tyrann Mathieu (@Mathieu_Era) April 14, 2019
Another longtime NFL reporter, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, also echoed that statement, saying that, because Russell Wilson’s Russell Wilson — and typically avoids drama — he’ll never actually demand a trade or tell the Seahawks that he wants to play anywhere else.
“The Seahawks think that Wilson would like to play elsewhere, even if he hasn’t and wouldn’t ever say it. They also believe that this unspoken dynamic will cause Wilson to drive a harder bargain with them than he would with another team.”
For a guy who ends every single interview he does with “Go Hawks,” this stance by Russell Wilson seems really unexpected and almost out of nowhere. It leaves the Seahawks in a tough predicament as they approach Wilson’s self-imposed April 15 deadline for a new deal, with the future of the franchise now hanging on what happens today. Is there something more to this situation that we don’t know about? All the Seahawks have done since Wilson’s been with the team is allegedly coddle him, but, Joe Banner, a former NFL executive, sure seems like something smells fishy.
Russell Wilson situation makes no sense, which means that more is going on then we know.
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) April 15, 2019
Wilson, who’s married to singer Ciara, might be looking for a way to get out of Seattle and into a bigger market. The guy already has millions to his name, but he might think a city like New York can bring even more star-power and influence. Regardless of the quarterback’s motives, it’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out, because Russell Wilson is a top-5 quarterback in the NFL, so the Seahawks have a ton of pressure on them right now to get a deal done with him as fast as possible.