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| Photo Credit: AP. |
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Russell Wilson’s five-year, $245 million extension includes a $50 million singing bonus, $77 million in the first eight months and a whopping $165 million in guarantees — all before he takes his first snap for the Denver Broncos.
Wilson left
money on the table, however, declining to reset the NFL’s stratospheric
quarterback market.
“For me, it
wasn’t really about how much, necessarily,” Wilson said Thursday. “It was about
how many — how many Super Bowls we win. And that was really the focus.”
Wilson
didn’t want to handicap general manager George Paton as he builds his roster
around him. So, he took $49 million on average in new money, $1 million less
than Aaron Rodgers did with his four-year, $200 million deal earlier this year
to stay in Green Bay.
In terms of
the all-important guaranteed portion of his contract, Wilson comes in with the
third-most lucrative deal in the NFL, behind Deshaun Waton’s fully guaranteed
$230 million deal with Cleveland and the $189.5 million in guarantees that
Kyler Murray received in his five-year, $230.5 million deal with Arizona.
Wilson’s
decision to take less will presumably affect Lamar Jackson’s negotiations with
the Baltimore Ravens on a contract extension and could have ripple effects when
rising stars Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow come up for new deals in the years
ahead.
“I had such an amazing first decade of my
career, and the next decade I’m really excited about,” Wilson said. “To me,
what it was really about was being able to win championships and being able to
have enough space in the salary cap so George can make his magic ...
“We want to
make this a destination location. We have an amazing tradition, amazing
football team, we have a lot of amazing new faces” in the owner’s suites and
front office. “These are world class visionaries and world class executors and
winners. At the end of the day, you want to be surrounded by that. And what’s
important, too, is making sure you surround yourself with amazing players.”
The
extension keeps Wilson, 33, under contract in Denver through the 2028 season
for $296 million. It’s the biggest contract in Broncos history and one of the
largest ever in the NFL.
Wilson’s new
deal comes three weeks after the league approved the $4.65 billion sale of the
team to the Walton-Penner ownership group that represented the largest amount
ever paid for a professional sports franchise anywhere in the world.
Led by
Walmart heir Rob Walton, his daughter, Carrie Walton Penner, and son-in-law
Greg Penner, it’s by far the wealthiest ownership group in the NFL.
Penner
called Wilson “a dynamic leader whose positive impact is felt throughout our
entire team and community. Our organization is fully committed to winning and
competing for Super Bowls with Russell as a Bronco for many years to come.”
Wilson had
two years and $51 million left on his deal when the Broncos acquired him from
Seattle for five draft picks and three players in a franchise-changing trade
six months ago. That $51 million has been restructured.
Penner said
last month that Paton’s trade for Wilson in the spring made the Broncos an even
more attractive asset.
“It’s critical
to have a great quarterback in this league and coming in this organization with
Russell in place is a tremendous benefit for us,” Penner said.
“On our
first diligence trip in May here, one of the first people we ran into the
hallway when Rob, Carrie and I were here was Russell,” Penner added. “Right
away, we got a sense of how positive he is as a leader. He is just such a
dynamic individual. I can’t wait to see him on the field.”
Wilson will
make his Denver debut on Sept. 12 when the Broncos open the season at Seattle,
where Wilson played for a decade, leading the Seahawks to two Super Bowl
appearances and one championship.
Wilson’s 113
victories, including one in Super Bowl 48 over the Broncos, are the most for a
quarterback in his first 10 NFL seasons. He’s made the Pro Bowl eight times and
he missed the playoffs just twice in his first decade in the league.
Star safety
Justin Simmons said when he heard of Wilson’s new deal, “the first thing I
thought of was: well deserved. He’s a proven quarterback in this league, a Hall
of Famer, and I’m happy for him — he’ll have to take me to dinner or something,
a very expensive one.”
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