Wilson Deal done!

[c_hawkbob]

Actually his incentive for signing now as opposed to pushing it to FA as he seems to have been advised, if you're referring to the amount of money he gets to bank this year, was $30M. And yes that's a nice incentive, but that's not to say that he wasn't telling his agent to end the negotiations now so there'd still be some cap room to sign both he and Bobby this year.

Yes it's spin, and yes there were plenty of other reasons for signing (nobody is saying otherwise), but that doesn't make anything Rogers said untrue.

[kalibane]

You are really good hearted Bob.

There is no way I can believe that Bobby Wagner had anything to do with his decision to sign this year rather than wait. I'm in total agreement with Riv. on this one. It just doesn't make financial sense to take a 20 million dollar loss this year so he could get 3 more million a year over the next 4. Not only is it a net loss of 8 million dollars but money today is more valuable than money down the road because you are able to grow it.

I can't even give squeaky clean Russell Wilson that much benefit of the doubt.

[c_hawkbob]

Where are you guys coming up with this $20M loss?

You must be assuming that his salary for the extension starts this year, it does't not. In fact his salary for this year is actually reduced to $700K. So he wouldn't "lose" anything by shopping himself in free agency next year except time before his first big direct deposit.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/seattle-seah ... ll-wilson/

[kalibane]

Wasn't supposed to be an exact figure Bob... but no new contract no signing bonus.

[NorthHawk]

He now gets about 7 million this year with the approximately $6.35 million signing bonus and a base salary of $700,000.

[c_hawkbob]

All of what you're saying is completely understood, and was from the beginning, but none of it changes the fact that he was being advised by his agent not to sign this year in favor of letting FA set the market for him next year, a circumstance under which the $100M stated (by his agent) target would reasonably have been reachable. And that, contrary to his agent's advice he signed at the end of the negotiation period this year.

The overall net loss in the total numbers, not even including the more than 50% reduction in actual salary this year stood to be over $10M, not a sum that a year of interest on his $30M+ take home this year could recoup with a year of interest.

Yes I completely understand all of the other motivations for taking the money now. All I'm saying is that is not inconceivable to me that he and Bobby both being able to sign this year, putting contract distractions behind them for another SB run, was a consideration in his signing now against the advice of his agent.

You say it was all greed, his agent (who admittedly is putting a self serving spin on it) says it was altruism. Forgive me for coming down somewhere between the extremes.

[Anthony]

All of what you're saying is completely understood, and was from the beginning, but none of it changes the fact that he was being advised by his agent not to sign this year in favor of letting FA set the market for him next year, a circumstance under which the $100M stated (by his agent) target would reasonably have been reachable. And that, contrary to his agent's advice he signed at the end of the negotiation period this year.

The overall net loss in the total numbers, not even including the more than 50% reduction in actual salary this year stood to be over $10M, not a sum that a year of interest on his $30M+ take home this year could recoup with a year of interest.

Yes I completely understand all of the other motivations for taking the money now. All I'm saying is that is not inconceivable to me that he and Bobby both being able to sign this year, putting contract distractions behind them for another SB run, was a consideration in his signing now against the advice of his agent.

You say it was all greed, his agent (who admittedly is putting a self serving spin on it) says it was altruism. Forgive me for coming down somewhere between the extremes.

I agree with you Bob, given Wilsons nature, and team first mentality I can believe that he said to his agent get it done, now and figure out a way to do it and get me a good deal, but leave them room for others. Interestingly Wilson has a cousin who lives up here. Nice kid, had a couple of beers with him the other night, he visits a sports bar I go to.

[RiverDog]

Actually his incentive for signing now as opposed to pushing it to FA as he seems to have been advised, if you're referring to the amount of money he gets to bank this year, was $30M. And yes that's a nice incentive, but that's not to say that he wasn't telling his agent to end the negotiations now so there'd still be some cap room to sign both he and Bobby this year.

Yes it's spin, and yes there were plenty of other reasons for signing (nobody is saying otherwise),[u] but that doesn't make anything Rogers said untrue[/u].

I didn't accuse Rogers of speaking untruths. I am pointing out that when talking about their clients in public, the ONLY thing that will come out of a player agent's mouth will be extremely flattering remarks, more so than even a lay it on thick head coach like Pete. The reality is that there were extremely compelling financial reasons for Russell to sign this season vs. going the free agent route, so much so that it requires a very Pollyannaish POV, perhaps one that characterizes $30M as just a "nice incentive", for one to believe that even a small part of Russell's decision was influenced by something other than his bank account.

[c_hawkbob]

So now you're gonna call me Pollyannaish cause I don't lock step with your point of view.

And you wonder what my problem is with you.

[RiverDog]

So now you're gonna call me Pollyannaish cause I don't lock step with your point of view.

And you wonder what my problem is with you.

I didn't call you anything. I said your viewpoint on this issue could be considered "Pollyannaish". Sorry if that offended you.

But you will have to admit that just calling $30M "nice" is a bit of an understatement even for a highly paid professional athlete, no? It makes it sound like he got a $20 tip.

[c_hawkbob]

Oh come on, it's not like the last offer he was going to get. If he didn't accept this offer it would only be bigger next time (which is why that was the route his agent was advising). It's also not like he was living the life of a pauper in the mean time. For you to insist Russell's only motivation for signing now was greed is the definition of intransigence.I cant believe you expect everybody to agree with you, nothing is ever one extreme or the other, it's always somewhere between.

[RiverDog]

Oh come on, it's not like the last offer he was going to get. If he didn't accept this offer it would only be bigger next time (which is why that was the route his agent was advising). It's also not like he was living the life of a pauper in the mean time. For you to insist Russell's only motivation for signing now was greed is the definition of intransigence.I cant believe you expect everybody to agree with you, nothing is ever one extreme or the other, it's always somewhere between.

I never said it was his "only" motivation. I also do not expect everyone, or even anyone, to agree with me. Gaining a consensus around my opinions has never been a priority with me. If it was, I would have quit posting long ago. I just don't happen to agree with the altruistic motivations you are suggesting as a possible reason for Russell's signing.

None of us know exactly what Russell's motivations were for signing. But the facts are that Russell waited until the last possible moment to sign where the only options were to either break his promise to play out his contract if a deal wasn't reached by TC and continue negotiating or to walk away from $30M, and that he eventually leveraged what many observers have characterized as a "monster" contract and the second richest deal in all of football. These facts suggest to me that Russell's two primary goals were to (1) to sign a deal before training camp and (2) to squeeze every last penny he could out of the Hawks prior to his self imposed deadline. IMO any other consideration was incidental, regardless of what his paid agent has said about the subject.

These negotiations have changed my opinion of Russell's make-up, not that I've lost any respect for him. Up until now, we have been treated to his "Go Hawks!" end to interviews, Children's hospital volunteerism, playing catch with a kid on the stadium field after MNF, spiritual revelations, donning a shirt and tie for interviews. But now I think that he's a little more selfish, a little less perfect, and more like one of us rather than this super hero image we've all been led to believe of him. In a way, it's a bit refreshing.

[savvyman]

Wilson caved in to the same deal that was offered by the Front Office for months before he finally signed.

Wilson caved in because he could see that his carefully crafted public personna was taking a huge hit because of how his manipulative agent had conducted these negotiations and the BS price and terms that his agent was advising Russell to hold out for.

The amount that Russell signed for was the exact amount that was leaked and reported by several different sources before the contract was signed.

Everything I wrote on this site over the past two months regarding the contract negotiations turned out to not only be very insightful but also very accurate.

All props for a good performance in this situation go to Pete & John who gave an outstanding player their ultimate top contract price and stood firm - even at the risk of losing this special player - and when the player saw he was not going to get anymore then Russell decided to sign the Seahawks best offer.

Great Job by Pete & John.

[NorthHawk]

We have no idea what happened during the negotiations or what was demanded/offered.

The only thing we know is the contract money parameters. How they got there and any outside motivations will remain a mystery to everyone outside of the direct dealings and any suggestions otherwise are simply guesses.

Hell, I guessed at a figure around 21 million and I'm a nobody that was only by looking at other contracts previously agreed to by other teams.

[RiverDog]

We have no idea what happened during the negotiations or what was demanded/offered.

The only thing we know is the contract money parameters. How they got there and any outside motivations will remain a mystery to everyone outside of the direct dealings and any suggestions otherwise are simply guesses.

Hell, I guessed at a figure around 21 million and I'm a nobody that was only by looking at other contracts previously agreed to by other teams.

It's a little more than simply guesses, North. If it is supported by facts, then they are educated guesses.

But I do agree that we have very little knowledge as to what was offered and when, whether we started out with low ball offers as Anthony and Hawk Talk suggested or whether the accepted offer was on the table for months like Savvy suggests. We can't even be positive if it was the final take-it-or-leave-it offer. We're all speculating.