Any given Russell Wilson story appears to have multiple sides. The former Seattle Seahawks quarterback, and the best QB in franchise history, set himself up for such things when he consistently gave robotic answers of positivity with a team-first attitude.
Actions speak louder than words, of course, and Wilson certainly earned being traded from the Seahawks after he went to team ownership and asked for general manager John Schneider and then-head coach Pete Carroll to be fired. That wasn't being a team-first player; that was a quarterback seeing himself as bigger than the rest of the team.
Still, some of the hate that Wilson receives might not completely be his fault.
Former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson simply asked for too much money
In a report from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and Pablo Torre on the NFL Players' Association's (NFLPA) grievance with the league about collusion applied to guaranteed contracts, NFLPA President JC Tretter blamed Wilson's lack of willingness to fight for a fully guaranteed deal from the Denver Broncos in 2022 as affecting every other NFL player's contract situation.
The reality, though, appears to be far worse than even the above. Wilson testified during the hearings on the collusion case that he had asked for a fully guaranteed contract, but his asking price was, at the time, unreasonable. The amount also showed that Wilson had higher esteem for himself than any team would.
Instead of negotiating with realistic numbers, Wilson asked the Broncos, even though he had two years left on his current contract, for a fully guaranteed seven-year contract for $350 million. The Broncos seemingly were never going to pay that much.
Russell Wilson asked the Broncos for a 7-year, ~$350 million FULLY guaranteed contract.
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) June 24, 2025
"However, it was clear that the Broncos had no intention of giving him [a fully guaranteed contract] and told him (or his agent) that repeatedly."
Incredible reporting from @PabloTorre. pic.twitter.com/75WBruiZsk
Perhaps if Wilson and his agent had not asked for so much, then they might have gotten a fully guaranteed deal, and JC Tretter would not have been so upset at Wilson. But the unrealistic number Wilson asked for caused him issues in his negotiations, and those appear to have rolled over into every other veteran contract negotiation.
In 2025, the value of contracts has increased, as the value of contracts in sports leagues globally has mostly gone up, so what Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is making this coming season, he wouldn't have been able to make in 2022.
Prescott's current contract pays him an annual salary of $60 million, the highest in the league. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen's deal pays him up to $330 million total. The fully guaranteed money for Prescott and Allen is much lower, though.
Of Allen's $330 million, $147 million is fully guaranteed. He has $250 million in total guarantees, but part of that includes him meeting incentives, and he has to stay healthy.
Prescott's contract is $240 million total, of which $129 million is fully guaranteed. Both Prescott's and Allen's contracts allow them to make a lot more money than the average person, but they might be even better had Wilson kept arguing for a fully guaranteed deal.
Instead, he had an unrealistic value for himself as a quarterback and asked for far too much from the Broncos after being traded to Denver from the Seahawks. Ultimately, that arrogance hurt every other player in the NFL.