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The Seattle Seahawks and quarterback Russell Wilson have agreed to a contract extension, according to Sports Illustrated's Peter King. The deal is worth $87.6 million over four years, a significant pay upgrade for the Super Bowl-winning quarterback. The deal includes a $31 million signing bonus and roughly $60 million in guaranteed money.
Wilson was entering the final year of his four-year, $3 million rookie contract. Wilson's rookie contract did not include a fifth-year option because he wasn't a first-round pick. Because of that, Seattle would have had to use the franchise tag on him in 2016 -- currently projected at more than $25 million -- if no extension had been signed by then.
Wilson is the second of the four starting quarterbacks selected in the 2012 NFL Draft to receive a new deal. Ryan Tannehill signed a six-year, $95.3 million deal earlier this offseason. However, it was Cam Newton's five-year, $103.8 million extension that raised the price even more for young quarterbacks. Andrew Luck is the next quarterback in line to receive a new contract, which will now likely be priced similarly to Wilson's.
Earlier in the offseason, it was reported that Wilson and the Seahawks could end up agreeing to a fully guaranteed contract. That news came after Wilson guided the Seahawks to Super Bowl XLIX, where Seattle narrowly lost to New England after Wilson threw a goal-line interception with under a minute to play.
Though heartbreaking, it doesn't overshadow the success Wilson has had to this point in his young career. Since being drafted in the third round out of Wisconsin in 2012, Wilson has led the Seahawks to three playoff trips in as many years, including two Super Bowl appearances and a victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
In 2014, Wilson completed 285 of 452 passes (63.1 percent) for 3,475 yards with 20 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He also rushed for 849 yards and six more touchdowns. The Seahawks have a 36-12 record through three seasons with Wilson at the helm. No quarterback in NFL history has helped his team win more games.
Wilson's career numbers so far stack up with the best quarterbacks in the NFL over the last three years. He's one of six quarterbacks with at least 9,000 passing yards, 60 touchdowns and 500 rushing yards during that span.
| GS | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | Sk | Y/A | ANY/A | W | L | T | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | Y/G | |
| Andrew Luck | 48 | 1062 | 1813 | 58.58 | 12957 | 86 | 43 | 86.6 | 100 | 7.15 | 6.33 | 33 | 15 | 0 | 189 | 905 | 4.79 | 12 | 18.9 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 48 | 1029 | 1662 | 61.91 | 11252 | 63 | 42 | 84 | 139 | 6.77 | 5.36 | 23 | 25 | 0 | 145 | 760 | 5.24 | 4 | 15.8 |
| Aaron Rodgers | 41 | 905 | 1362 | 66.45 | 11212 | 94 | 19 | 108.9 | 100 | 8.23 | 7.97 | 29 | 12 | 0 | 127 | 648 | 5.1 | 4 | 15.8 |
| Cam Newton | 46 | 834 | 1406 | 59.32 | 10375 | 61 | 37 | 85.8 | 117 | 7.38 | 5.94 | 24 | 21 | 1 | 341 | 1865 | 5.47 | 19 | 40.5 |
| Russell Wilson | 48 | 794 | 1252 | 63.42 | 9950 | 72 | 26 | 98.6 | 119 | 7.95 | 6.93 | 36 | 12 | 0 | 308 | 1877 | 6.09 | 11 | 39.1 |
| Jay Cutler | 41 | 849 | 1350 | 62.89 | 9466 | 66 | 44 | 86.4 | 95 | 7.01 | 5.68 | 20 | 21 | 0 | 103 | 542 | 5.26 | 2 | 13.2 |
Wilson has more wins than any other quarterback in NFL history though his first three seasons. His rise from Day 2 draft pick to borderline-elite starter has been a success story, and now Wilson has the big payday to go with it. However, the fact that Wilson was a third-round pick making less than $1 million per year allowed Seattle to spend money on other big-name players to build a roster capable of winning a Super Bowl.
Now that Wilson is making the big bucks, the Seahawks have the challenge of trying to afford to pay enough of their other stars and keep the team a championship contender.
A few more of Wilson's records and highlights so far (check out Field Gulls for the full list):
- Wilson is the only QB in NFL history to appear in two SB's in his first three seasons.
- Wilson is the first QB in NFL history with a passer rating of over 95.0 in each of his first three seasons.
- Wilson has 24 games with a passer rating of 100+ in his first three seasons ... more than any other QB in NFL history. Flacco, Marino and Palmer are tied for second with 19.
- Wilson leads all QB's in the NFL over the last three years with 10 fourth quarter comebacks and 15 game-winning drives. No other QB in NFL history has ever done this in their first three years.
- Wilson is the first and only QB in NFL history to throw for 300+ yards and run for 100+ yards (313 and 106) in the same game -- against the Rams on Oct. 19, 2014.
- Wilson led all NFL rushers in 2014 with an average of 7.2 yards per carry.
- Wilson has a record of having had a lead at some point in 56 straight games since 2012 -- the old record was 45 games. Also, in those 56 games, Wilson has never lost an NFL game by more than nine points.
- Wilson has won 36 games in his first three seasons, three more than any other QB in NFL history.
- Including the postseason, Wilson has won 42 games in his first three seasons, six more than any other QB in NFL history.
Impressive.
★★★
SB Nation presents: An example of why the Seahawks have faith in Russell Wilson