Russell Wilson's new contract is huge compared to other top quarterbacks
Russell Wilson has agreed to a new four-year, $87.6 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks. It is no doubt a monster, but we really see how big it is when we compare it to other top quarterbacks.
Because of the way NFL contracts constructed, there are a number of different ways they can be viewed and ranked, especially among quarterbacks who have signed a new contract in recent years. Highest total value? Jay Cutler, $126.7 million. Top average value? Aaron Rodgers, $22 million per year. Highest guaranteed value? Colin Kaepernick, $61 million. But these deals can look a lot different if we dig deeper.
So, let's compare the contracts signed by quarterbacks in the last year or so by how much they will make in the first two years of the new deal since we can safely assume none of these players will be cut before year-two. This is where we see just how awesome Wilson's deal is.
Using Wilson's $31 million signing bonus and 2016 and 2017 salaries, Wilson will make about $44.0 million in the first two years, or about 49% of the total value of the contract. Only Ben Roethlisberger can top those numbers.
Wilson didn't get the $125 million contract some were expecting. Instead, what he got was a shorter deal and a lot more money that is truly guaranteed, making his deal more valuable than most.
It will be interesting to see moving forward if more quarterbacks eschew the headline-grabbing $100 million contracts in favor of deals that will actually put more money in their bank accounts.