Seahawks should restructure Russell Wilson before free agency hits

As reported by the Tacoma News Tribune’s Gregg Bell, the Seahawks don’t need Russell Wilson’s OK to restructure his deal so Seattle should do that soon. Because, really, why not? This should be a win-win for player and team. Seattle needs to create cap space to sign good players and Wilson wants better players on the team.

Not restructuring Wilson’s deal would almost be wrong for the Seahawks. Last week, both Tom Brady of the Buccaneers and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs agreed to restructure their deals which gave their respective teams a ton of more cap space. Kansas City gained $17 million by Mahomes restructuring and Tampa Bay gained $19 million.

The problem for Russell Wilson is even if he did have input on Seattle restructuring his deal and he refused, then after what Brady and Mahomes did Wilson would look bad. While he has been vocal this offseason about getting frustrated with getting hit too much, he also needs to show he cares about the team so 12s, who love Wilson, don’t start turning their backs on him.

And the problem for the Seahawks is if they do not restructure Wilson’s deal before free agency starts this week then it looks like the team is afraid to do it because they are afraid of what Wilson might think. That would be no way to run a business and a professional football team is a business.

Seahawks and Russell Wilson need to restructure

If I were Russell Wilson I would take the lead on this and say, “I just watched Brady and Mahomes willing re-work their deals and I want the Seahawks to do the same with mine. I want to be in Seattle long-term and I want to win Super Bowls – plural – with the Seahawks.”

But if I were general manager John Schneider I would make a statement to the effects of, “We have decided to restructure Russell Wilson’s deal and plan to try to get players in who will improve the offensive line among other groups.”

Neither of these statements is likely to happen, of course, but Seattle should re-work Wilson’s deal. The quarterback will still get paid either way but would the team be better in 2021 if Seattle doesn’t free up some money? Likely not.