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Luck and Wilson Still Waiting on Lucrative Contracts
When will two of the NFL’s most dynamic quarterbacks finally earn their big payday?
You know how there’s always those people on Wheel of Fortune who shout “Big money, big money!” whenever they spin the wheel?
Well, that’s pretty much what it’s like to be the agents for Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson right now. But so far neither the Colts nor Seahawks have granted their franchise quarterbacks with the lucrative contract extensions that they would seem to have earned by this point.
So when will that finally happen?
For Luck, it will be the summer of 2016 at the earliest, as Indianapolis has decided to table any contract talk until that point in time. However, Jim Irsay even made Peyton Manning play out his deals before inking him to bigger contracts, so it is possible that Luck won’t be tied down long-term until 2017.
That may actually work to Luck’s benefit rather than the Colts — by 2017, he may play his way into the status where Indy has no choice but to make him the highest-paid quarterback in the game, and by a much different economic standard of what that player should be paid. That’s especially true if Luck is able to add a Super Bowl banner (or two) to go next to the Colts 2014-15 “AFC Finalist” banner.
Russell Wilson’s contract may end up setting the standard for Luck to follow — assuming it gets done. While things still appear to be amicable between the Colts and Luck, Wilson is increasingly expressing displeasure with his situation in Seattle.
Wilson is heading into the final year of his rookie contract after leading the Seahawks to consecutive Super Bowls. The team reportedly wants to give him an extension in the neighborhood of deals signed by Colin Kaepernick and Andy Dalton, while Wilson allegedly doesn’t want to settle for anything less than the seven years and $126 million ($54 million guaranteed) that the Bears misguidedly gave Jay Cutler.
He is also making his displeasure known.
“I know God’s going to take me and put me where he wants to have me,” Wilson told a Raleigh radio station on Tuesday. “I hope that’s Seattle. I love it there, it’s a great place. But I’ve gone through the ups and downs and been moved around before. I loved NC State and loved playing there and then having to go somewhere else and start new.”
Wilson, of course, transfered to Wisconsin for his senior season because Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien (since fired — surprise!) wouldn’t let him play minor-league baseball the summer before that season.
Expect both sides to engage in some high-stakes chicken. The Seahawks may be just arrogant enough to think they can plug any quarterback into their system — after all, they do need to pay the guys on defense — and do fine without Wilson. After all, they took a chance on him right after signing Matt Flynn to a big free agent deal.
Wilson, too, can make plenty of threats, with even the possibility of resuming his baseball career as possible leverage.
I expect Russell Wilson to make a lot of money in his next contract, and Andrew Luck to make even more once his agent sees what Wilson is making. But while there’s no doubt Luck will be getting paid by the team that drafted him, it’s beginning to feel like there’s a chance Wilson’s payday could take place outside of Seattle.
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