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Russell Wilson says he'd be OK playing this season without new deal

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

In just about every story about Cam Newton's new deal, Russell Wilson's name appeared as well. There was good reason for that.

Now that Newton has signed a mega-deal with the Carolina Panthers, all eyes are turning to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and Wilson, who logically are the next in line for massive deals. But while Wilson's deal seemed like a slam dunk after two straight NFC championships with Seattle and one Super Bowl win, it hasn't happened yet.

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There's still plenty of time for it to happen, but Wilson is ready to play for his $1.542 million base salary (according to Spotrac) if he has to. That's a big raise from the roughly $662,000 he made last season, but it's still very light for a quarterback of his stature.

"I’m prepared for that 100 percent, if that’s the case," Wilson said about playing out the last year of his contract, via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. "You know, I want to be here for a long time, but if that’s the case I’ve just got to get ready to play. I love the game, and I love being out here with these guys and just playing, and so ultimately I just take it one day at a time and just see where it takes me.”

Wilson wants to be in Seattle for a long time, and if you're gambling on the outcome of this contract negotiation, bet heavily that the Seahawks are going to lock him up for a long time. Newton's $103.8 million deal might make it a little tougher, because that's a lot of money and Wilson has been a better quarterback to this point in their careers. But there has been a tiny bit more uncertainty than, say, Luck getting a deal done with Colts. For all the good Wilson has done, he's not the biggest reason for the team's success (it's the defense) and he arguably isn't the centerpiece of the offense (that's Marshawn Lynch). Seattle gives up the huge edge it has had recently once devotes a large percentage of its cap space to Wilson, who is likely getting about $20 million per year in his next deal. General manager John Schneider seemed to address the huge blow Wilson's contract will be on the Seahawks' cap in some curious comments on the situation this offseason.

It would be absolutely unprecedented in NFL history for the Seahawks to let Wilson hit free agency in his prime without a backup plan in place, but Wilson spent most of his media availability on Tuesday getting asked about it. And he avoided most of those questions by saying he didn't want to talk about contractual matters. But he kept coming back to wanting to be in Seattle for the long term, saying he has "moved around enough" after transferring to Wisconsin from NC State in college and also playing minor-league baseball.

"I always have confidence. No matter where I go I always believe that it’s going to work out no matter what the situation is," Wilson said, via Condotta's transcript. "And I hope that it’s here and I hope that its here for a long time and hopefully I get to wear the Seahawks blue in Number three for a long time. But we’ll see what happens."

It's almost impossible to believe that this doesn't end up with Wilson getting a huge deal with the Seahawks at some point, perhaps sometime soon. But until that happens there are always going to be the questions about when it's going to get done and why it hasn't.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!