I can’t find it right now but in another thread on the SDMB a while back I defended Russell Wilson as the guy I wanted playing quarterback for the Seahawks (as opposed to guys like, you know - P.M., T.B., and D.B.). And I like Russell Wilson. He’s always seemed to me to be a humble, straight-up, hard-working player and he’s probably my favorite current Seahawk. But I have to say that the fact he’s playing hardball with the Seahawks for more $$$ irks me. Partly because, as much as I’ve enjoyed seeing him in a Seahawks’ uniform, I really don’t think he’s THE top player in the league (and, therefore, doesn’t deserve to be its best-paid). Also, though, because I really thought he was different. Well, okay - maybe not different, but not as not intent on “getting all the $$$ he can, while he can” as so many players in the N.F.L. are like. R.W., you’ve REALLY disappointed me, pal. If this keeps up and the Seahawks end up feeling that they can’t sign him for the amount of $$$ that he apparently is looking for then I’m probably going to dispose of my Russell Wilson t-shirt and reconsider putting him at QB on the Seahawks’ “Greatest Players of All Time” roster that I’m constantly modifying. 
I think professional athletes are overpaid way way too much. That is my criticism of the industry as a whole. But for any one athlete to make as much $$$ as they can, even more than their skills would dictate, well, it only seems logical to get paid as much $$$ as you can, in any given situation.
To everyone who is always aghast at how much star athletes are paid and use the term “overpaid”, I humbly suggest you take a step back and reflect - they are certainly “overpaid” by civilian standards, but within the context of their sport/league they are not.
The money is there, it either goes to them or to the owner. Does anyone ever say the owners are “overpaid”? would we tune in every week to watch the owner for 3 hours play against another owner? I certainly wouldn’t.
Again, the money is there, it either goes to them or to the owner.
Russell Wilson’s rookie contract was for less than $3 million over four years, and he’s played three years under that contract already. In those three years, the Seahawks have won 36 regular season games and six postseason games, including one Super Bowl. For his efforts, Wilson’s been paid less than $1.5M over that time.
Is he the best quarterback in the NFL? No. But he’s a hell of a lot better than his paychecks to date have been. If the Seahawks won’t pay him $25M, somebody else will… and if Seattle doesn’t want him at market price, why should he (continue to) play there at a discount?
No, I respect players at lest, they have skill. team owners are just bored millionares/billionares who make no contribution to the the game’s outcome.
Fans of teams with “bad” owners would disagree. 
LOL, ok
I’m with you. When I’m enjoying me some Sunday N.F.L. action I try not to think too much about how much $$$ those guys are pulling in for playing a sport. But during the off-season it’s stuff like what Russell Wilson is doing that REALLY turns me off to pro sports.
The NFL grows every year, and the salary cap grows, and the salaries grow. The 5th best player at a given position may sign this year for a bigger contract than the best player at his position did 2 years ago. That doesn’t mean that he’s a better player, just that he’s signing at a point where salaries are going to be bigger. If that that best player at his position signs a new contract 2 years later than that (assuming he’s still the best player), it’ll be a bigger contract than the 5th best player got this year.
As a practical example, doesn’t Joe Flacco make significantly more than most of the quarterbacks that are better than him?
So you can only really compare Wilson’s contract to people who signed the same year, or perhaps with a one year gap. We’ll see what Luck gets paid, that’s going to be the point of comparison.
I think Russell should get every dollar he can, the league owners certainly do.
My issue is I don’t think he’s that great a QB and I have a suspicion his persona is as fake as Taylor Swift.
Of course, I’m an Atlanta Falcons fan, so I clearly know NOTHING about football.
By current standards, Russell Wilson is underpaid. He’s not the best in the NFL but he’s certainly close to the top. However he’s getting paid like he’s a back-up.
Drew Brees - $26,400,000
Eli Manning - $19,750,000
Aaron Rodgers - $18,250,000
Peyton Manning - $17,500,000
Philip Rivers - $17,416,668
Ben Roethlisberger - $17,245,000
Jay Cutler - $16,500,000
Alex Smith - $15,600,000
Colin Kaepernick - $15,265,753
Joe Flacco - $14,550,000
Tom Brady - $14,000,000
Cam Newton - $13,000,000
Andy Dalton - $9,600,000
Andrew Luck - $7,034,363
Russell Wilson - $1,696,868
(All figures from overthecap.com)
He’s been the most underpaid player in the NFL for the duration of his career, and it’s not even close.
It’s not like a team should be expected to break the bank to reward past performance and make up the deficit in future salaries, but his team benefited highly from the rookie contract/draft-position scheme that locks players into long-term contracts based on their draft status and not their performance. So I don’t feel bad for them at all. I guess they should be rewarded for drafting well, and they have.
Almost any starting QB in the NFL is getting $15 million+ for multiple years with at least $20-30 million of that guaranteed. He’s been playing for less than some 3rd stringers and many backups on teams that absolutely suck.
And none of these guys are “overpaid” when the billionaire owners can cut them at almost any time and owe them $0. People crying for the billionaire owners and complaining when star players want to get paid a small fraction of revenue make no sense to me. Of course everyone wants to maximize his salary, especially when you bring in billions and work a job that can end at any time. Most pro athletes never make the big millions because they aren’t drafted high and their careers end before their first contract.
I’m not sure why Seahawks fans, who have enjoyed the fruits of Wilson’s labors at below-market prices (thanks to the abominable rookie cap), should have the ongoing expectation of continuing to enjoy those underpaid efforts now that he is finally able to negotiate in something resembling a free market.
The NFL hates free markets.
The Seahawks got a few years of stellar QB play at a bargain price, just as the Angels got a few years of awesome center field play (from Mike Trout) at a bargain price. But once Russell Wilson and Mike Trout had the power to demand more, you had to know both teams were going to have to pony up.
Wilson isn’t one of the elite QBs , in my opinion, but he’s damn good and he’s proven that he CAN take a team to victory in the Super Bowl. He was classy enough not to demand more money while he was under contract, but he’s due to get more, a LOT more now. The Seahawks have already gotten all the “discount” they were entitled to.
You would know TS is fake just how?
And also consider that the vast majority of pro athletes are not star players and will have very short careers, and ESPN ain’t holding an anchor chair for any of them, so those huge paychecks in the span of a few years are going to have to last them a very long time.
It’s like getting 95%+ of your entire life’s earnings right when you leave college. Some guys recognize this and save and invest wisely. Others assume they are going to be superstars and blow through it like assholes. But that’s a whole other discussion.
Of course it looks outrageous when star players get these huge contracts for years and years, but for every one of those guys, there are 100 guys who are going to be pushing a wheelbarrow on a construction site 5 years from now.
I think the Seattle fans want him paid well. Very well. But not $25 million per year. They’re worried about the cap, and what it would mean for the rest of the team.
Regarding the question about how good he is, I think he’s exceptional in judgment, attitude, preparation, and leadership. He’s just above average in actual ability to throw a football.
Wilson’s biggest misfortune was being underestimated coming right out of college. He’s a lot better than Robert Griffin, but Griffin was a high draft pick, and therefore got a lot more money than he has proven deserving of. Wilson was drafted much lower, which meant he got paid a lot less than he’s proven deserving of.
Considering he’s already been to more Super Bowls than Andrew Luck, Sam Bradford, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler and Cam Newton combined, I can’t blame him for demanding top dollar.
There are two questions here that are often conflated by fans: (a) should my team pay this player so much, and (b) should this player ask for so much? The answers don’t always match up. Because fans identify with the team more than the individual players, they usually focus more on the first than the second. A big part of Wilson’s value to Seattle has been his cost - they can put a much better team around him when they’re paying him nothing, and (as you say), they’re worried about the cap implications of a big extension. That makes sense from a team (and a fan) perspective, but it’s not that simple.
The Seahawks might be happy to pay Wilson $19M a year, but there’s somebody out there who’ll pony up $25M+ for him. He’s got little incentive to settle for less than that. Wilson has an insurance policy that pays out if he’s injured in 2015, so he can afford to play this year under his current contract and wait for the big payday a year from now. If it doesn’t come from Seattle, it’ll come from Cleveland, or Houston, or the Jets, or… well, Wilson is probably one of the top 15 quarterbacks in a quarterback driven league that has 32 teams. He has no shortage of options, but the team does… so Seattle has to make a decision: sign him for more than he’s “worth,” or lose him and try to replace him. Because replacement level quarterbacks suck, you see a lot of teams “overpaying” for quarterbacks that are in the average to pretty good range (Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, etc.). Replacing Wilson with a free agent or a rookie would immediately drop Seattle from a playoff team to rebuilding mode, so they’ll pay him eventually. They’re just (probably) going to wait until next year, because his cap charge is going to blow up that team.
As indeed they should be, along with the fans of every other team in a salary cap league.
Is he an unrestricted free agent or is he still in the matchy part of his contract? Apologies for not keeping up with player news, it’s not a league I follow these days. I just like bidding wars for players.