Seahawks QB Russell Wilson Headed For Franchise Tag In 2016?

Peter King of MMQB.com can see Seahawks QB Russell Wilson playing out the final year of his rookie contract.

This should come as little surprise, seeing as multiple reports have said as much for a few months now.

King expects the Seahawks to apply their exclusive franchise tag to Wilson next year, which would run them around $24.5 million for the 2016 season.

Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, tells King that he doesn’t see Cam Newton‘s new contract as the kind of deal that will have a major impact on contract talks between the two parties. It’s also worth mentioning that Rodgers said some similar after Ryan Tannehill got his new contract as well.

“There’s no deadline, no pressure,” Rodgers said. “Russell has a contract for this season, and he is fully prepared to play the season out if he does not sign another contract. It’s early June. They don’t report to camp till late July. I’ve always assumed this contract would take a while to get done.”

King lists three reason why he believes contract talks between the two parties could be in trouble:

• Rodgers and Wilson could be targeting a deal that would make him the highest-paid quarterback in football, or something close to that.
• King gets the impression that Seahawks GM John Schneider believes in sticking to the value the team sets for a player, whatever it is.
• From listening to Wilson’s agent, King doesn’t think they’re willing to accept a hometown-discount.

Here’s the quote from Rodgers that King is referencing in his third point.

“Sometimes, the best deal is the deal you don’t do,” Rodgers said. “For me, there would be a greater disappointment in taking a below-market deal than there would be in honoring the fourth year of a contract.”

Wilson, 26, still has one year remaining on his four-year, $2.198 million rookie contract, which includes a base salary of $798,651 for the 2015 season.

In 2014, Wilson threw for 3,475 yards while completing 63.1 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for 849 yards and scored six rushing touchdowns over the course of 16 games.

We’ll have more regarding Wilson the Seahawks as the news is available.