Russell Wilson will likely finish out rookie contract

Russell Wilson is easily the biggest bargain in the NFL. He may even be the biggest bargain in pro sports.

In his first three years in the league, he’s gone to two Super Bowls, won one, and was a Marshawn Lynch handoff away from another championship ring. He’s thrown for more than 3,000 yards in each of his three seasons. He’s never thrown more than 10 picks. He’s never completed below 60 percent of his passes.

And he’s done all that while receiving the 64th highest salary out of the 110 quarterbacks in the NFL.

With all his success in the the first three years of his career, Wilson has reportedly been looking for a contract extension to keep him in the Pacific Northwest. But it has been well-documented that the Seattle Seahawks and Wilson are far apart in contract negotiations–Wilson is looking for something in the Jay Cutler range (six-years, $126 million, $54 million guaranteed) while the Seahawks are looking to give him a deal around $80 million with a low guaranteed salary.

After nfl.com’s Ian Rapoport reported yesterday that a deal between the two parties is “very unlikely to get done,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported today that Wilson will play the 2015 season with a hefty insurance policy that will pay out millions of dollars if Wilson suffers a career-ending injury.

This development is an indicator that Wilson will probably play out the final year of his rookie deal, a deal in which he will be due about $1.5 million.

And if Wilson and the Seahawks are indeed letting the summer pass without a deal getting done, Wilson will be an unrestricted free agent in 2016, meaning he has the freedom to negotiate and sign with any other team with the Seahawks not having an opportunity to match unless the Seahawks use the Franchise Tag to keep him in town.

Wilson’s insurance policy is simply a delaying of the inevitable for another year.

Expect to hear a lot of debate around the country about Wilson, his contract and the Seattle Seahawks, next spring.

Next: Seahawks make a trio of roster moves

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