It's a little late, but better late than never. The night of April 15, 2019, Russell and his agent signed a contract extension with the Seahawks, a total of 4 years and $140 million. This makes Russ, for the time being, the NFL's highest paid player. Does he deserve it? Should the Hawks have given in? Will it be worth it? My answer to all of those: Yes.
First off, he does indeed deserve it. He has produced a winning season in every year of his career, made it to the playoffs in all but one, and won a playoff game in all but two. I'd argue if he was given full control and we didn't force the running game in the playoff game against Dallas that we would've won that, as close as it was. So that would've meant winning a playoff game in all but one season. Most quarterbacks don't even have multiple seasons of winning a playoff game period, let alone at the start of their careers. And Russ has done this despite a massive amount of roster turnover, despite an offensive line, that while in transition, was continually graded as one of the worst in the league. He lost a Pro Bowl running back in Marshawn Lynch, yet still puts up Pro Bowl numbers himself. His rushing yards may be down, but he continues to be one of the most efficient quarterbacks in NFL history. He's done nothing but succeed since he entered the league.
The Hawks had to give in. Russell is already on his way to being the greatest quarterback in team history (and some would argue he already is since he's the only one to win a Super Bowl and has the numbers to back it up). He's the kind of talent and presence that is not easily replaced. By re-signing Russell, the Hawks put their fans at ease. We could've worried year after year if Russ was going to leave or get traded, but the organization gets the security of knowing they have a Top 10 (borderline Top 5) quarterback for the next five years at least. After Brady, Big Ben, and Brees retire Russ could very well be Top 5. These kinds of quarterbacks stay with their teams for years and years because they are so hard to replace. Once you get a quarterback of this caliber, you do what it takes to hold on to him. And with Russ still in his very productive years, the Hawks had to dig deep in their wallet to hold on to their man.
Many fans think his contract will handicap and hurt the team. I disagree. I think in the long run it will be worth it. The Hawks had most of their success between 2013-2015, when a majority of their players were on rookie contracts. Having a core group of young players succeed on rookie contracts is essential for a team's success in today's NFL. That hasn't changed. The Hawks have been a borderline playoff team the last 3 or 4 years because they have not drafted as well as they used to. Remember when we drafted Malik McDowell? He'll go down with Aaron Curry as one of the largest busts in Hawks history. The Hawks still need to draft well in order to have Super Bowl-type success. Nothing's changed there. I'll take a borderline playoff team and a potential Super Bowl team if we draft well, rather than losing Russ and being faced with uncertainty and up and down seasons.
The run the Seahawks had from 2012 to 2015 was the best 3 or 4 year run in franchise history. The last few years haven't been quite as successful, but at least they've been interesting and winning seasons. I am confident that the Hawks will have another run like 2012-2015 sometime in the future before Russell Wilson's career is up. We have to hold on to him though. And the Hawks will have to find a few diamonds in the rough in the draft. With Russ signed through 2023, the Hawks just increased their odds of making a Super Bowl run in that same time frame.
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