Seahawks can’t be happy with Matt Ryan deal. Russell Wilson will get paid.
The Falcons just inked a $150 million deal with Matt Ryan. The Seahawks have a lot to talk about right now. Maybe 200 million things.
I remember when the upstart New York Jets signed one Joe Willie Namath to what was then an unbelievable $427,000 rookie contract. Yes, I’m older than you are. That amount was for three years, by the way, not an annual salary. People were astonished. Sort of how the Seahawks have to feel after seeing Matt Ryan’s contract today.
The Seahawks have been playing a waiting game with quarterback Russell Wilson. His current contract runs through the 2019 season, and he’s made it clear that he feels he’s underpaid. Now you can look at this two ways. You could say that no one who’s working under an $87.6 million dollar contract could ever be underpaid. Especially when $61.5 million of that is guaranteed.
Or you could say that since Russell Wilson is now only 11th in average salary among NFL quarterbacks, he is grossly underpaid. The top ten quarterback salaries in the league, along with their lifetime passer ratings are provided for your viewing pleasure.
How the top QBs stack up
| Rank | Player | Avg Salary | Total value | total guaranteed | Passer Rating | Career games | Career starts |
| 1 | Matt Ryan | $30.0 | $150.0 | $100.0 | 93.4 | 158 | 158 |
| 2 | Kirk Cousins | $28.0 | $84.0 | $84.0 | 93.7 | 62 | 57 |
| 3 | Jimmy Garoppolo | $27.5 | $137.5 | $74.1 | 99.7 | 23 | 7 |
| 4 | Matthew Stafford | $27.0 | $135.0 | $92.0 | 88.3 | 125 | 125 |
| 5 | Derek Carr | $25.0 | $125.0 | $70.2 | 87.5 | 62 | 62 |
| 5 | Drew Brees | $25.0 | $50.0 | $27.0 | 96.7 | 249 | 248 |
| 7 | Andrew Luck | $24.6 | $123.0 | $87.0 | 87.3 | 70 | 70 |
| 8 | Alex Smith | $23.5 | $94.0 | $71.0 | 87.4 | 156 | 151 |
| 9 | Joe Flacco | $22.1 | $66.4 | $44.0 | 84.1 | 154 | 154 |
| 10 | Aaron Rodgers | $22.0 | $110.0 | $54.0 | 103.8 | 149 | 142 |
| 11 | Russell Wilson | $21.9 | $87.6 | $61.5 | 98.8 | 96 | 96 |
| 16 | Tom Brady | $20.5 | $41.0 | $28.0 | 97.6 | 253 | 251 |
| Avg Top Five | $27.5 | $126.3 | $84.1 | 92.5 | 86 | 82 |
Yes, I added Tom Brady, the 16th highest paid quarterback as I know a few people will be curious about his current rank on the pay scale.