Russell Wilson Worth Big Bucks for Seattle Seahawks, Like It or Not

It's been over a month since Russell Wilson's last pass of the 2014-15 campaign failed to win Super Bowl XLIX for the Seattle Seahawks. They've been hard at work since, signing Marshawn Lynch to an extension and trading for Jimmy Graham.

That doesn't mean they shouldn't pay Wilson, 26, what's he worth, especially when they've dealt him a rookie's wages in his first three seasons out of Wisconsin—three seasons in which he led the Seahawks to two Super Bowl berths and one title.

And if that means making Wilson one of the highest-paid players at his position, well, youth be darned.

Harry How/Getty Images

The NFL salary cap has increased to more than $143 million, and the Seahawks have roughly $26 million in cap space, via Stephen Cohen of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

According to the The Seattle Times' Bob Condotta, the Seahawks paid Wilson a base salary of $662,434 in 2014 with a salary cap hit of $817,302. That's after he brought them the franchise's first Super Bowl victory, and before he got them to within three feet of a second consecutive title. Even backup signal-caller Tarvaris Jackson was paid more than Wilson last year ($1,250,000, according to Spotrac).

No more: The Seahawks have gotten Wilson on the cheap his first three years, but those days are over.

He could receive a guaranteed contract, according to King 5 News' Travis Pittman, which could be worth as much as $20 million or more annually and would put him in the upper stratosphere of current NFL signal-callers.

NFL Insider Ian Rapoport tweeted about that possibility as well just last month:

"

The possibility of #Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and a fully guaranteed contract is very real. Will be fascinating to watch this develop.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 19, 2015"

There are his detractors, of course.

There's the school of thought that Wilson has simply been a game manager rather than a true quarterback. The reasoning is that a cigar-store Indian could probably run Seattle's offense and have the same amount of success, especially since the Seahawks defense (when healthy) can be so dominant.

Others might say he's good but not great, or that he doesn't deserve to make anywhere near as much money as more established QBs like Aaron Rodgers.

Professional players used to have summer jobs back in the '50s, too. Times change.

Wilson simply makes things happen on the field, whether it's with his arm, his legs or most importantly his brain. He's a tremendously smart player and a gifted escape artist (see the clip). He almost looks like a point guard out there, keeping his cool, assessing his options and then acting.

Put Jackson or B.J. Daniels behind center, and the Seahawks offense would likely sputter out rather than run as smoothly as it does with Wilson at the controls.

His passer rating has remained more or less consistent in his first three campaigns in the NFL: 

Season	Completions	Attempts	Percent	Yards	TD	Int	Rate	Ranking
2012	252	293	64.1	3,118	26	10	100.0	4
2013	257	407	63.1	3,357	26	9	101.2	7
2014	285	452	63.1	3,475	20	7	95.0	15

Naysayers will say that his rating dropped last year, but he also threw more passes, had more yards and completions and suffered less interceptions in 2014.

Does Wilson sometimes run too early instead of staying in the pocket on intended passing plays? Possibly, but it doesn't do him any good to remain in the pocket and prove something by taking a beating.

He's also avoided big hits when running the ball and doesn't really turn it over on the ground (he's had 27 fumbles in three years, but only eight were lost).

Would Wilson take a hometown discount to stay in Seattle and make another run at a championship? Possibly, but he's still going to get a pretty good raise. 

There will still be substantial pieces around Wilson when Seattle has the ball. Lynch just re-upped with the Seahawks, while injured tight end Zach Miller was just let go with the emergence of Luke Willson and the subsequent trade for Graham.

The offensive line hasn't always been healthy, but Wilson has made do despite taking 42 sacks last season. Center Max Unger went to New Orleans in the Graham trade, although he was injured for a lot of last season, so it's not like Wilson hasn't worked with other snappers. Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse will also be back as Wilson's regular if unheralded wideouts. 

Wilson's last play to date was that goal-line pass in Arizona. Although it definitely wasn't the highlight of his football career, it also shouldn't be the play used to judge him absolutely. He said as much himself the day after the game:

"

At 26 years old I won't allow 1 play or 1 moment define my career.

I will keep evolving.

— Russell Wilson(@DangeRussWilson) Feb. 2, 2015"

He's done too many other good things and has helped make the Seahawks more relevant now than at any other point in their history.

Michael Jordan probably said it best: Failing to make shots and losing games time after time ultimately helped him to succeed. The same could be said of Wilson, even if he only has three years' worth of NFL experience.

Game manager? Maybe—but I'll take that game manager over a lot of his NFL peers.

The Seahawks will too, and it's finally going to cost them some big bucks. There'll be a lot of zeros at the end of Wilson's new paycheck, but after what he's accomplished so far and is poised to do, he'll be worth it.