Tom Cruise Cuba Gooding Jr once shouted ‘Show me the money’ and the Seahawks have! After 3 years on the league minimum Russell Wilson is finally getting the money a QB who has made 2 Superbowls in his first 3 seasons deserves.
His 4 year deal is worth nearly $88m of which $60m is guaranteed. That’s an awful lot of money for a young QB, second only to Aaron Rogers at Green Bay, but when Cam Newton and Kaepernick are getting similar money without any Superbowl rings suddenly Wilson looks like good value. It’s also worth remembering no QB has won more games in his first 3 seasons in the NFL than Wilson (36-12).
The only fly in the ointment of the Wilson deal is the pressure it puts on the Seahawks salary cap but more on that in a bit.
Offensively Seattle have retained probably the best RB currently in the game in Marshawn Lynch and their steady, if unspectacular, receiving corps now have a true star with one of the best TEs in the game Jimmy Graham making the move from the Deep South to the Pacific Northwest.
As good as Seattle has been the last 2 years they have lacked a true number one receiver and have relied too much on Wilson’s ability to conjure something from nothing or on Lynch to go into ‘Beastmode’. Now they have a number one in Graham. Getting Graham now gives Wilson a true target man and coupled with the steady young guys Baldwin and Kearse , Seattle is starting to build a strong receiving corps and this is without rookies like Chris Matthews and Paul Richardson who have tremendous potential.
The Graham trade has shown the genius of John Schneider, the Seahawks’ GM and the architect of this current side along with Pete Carroll.
Schneider and Carroll have kept the bulk of their side and through their on-going back room wheeler dealing and late round draft picks have built a squad of hungry rookies and undervalued veterans who are hungry to win and have points to prove.
So what about the defence? Well the best defence in the NFL still looks good, especially with DT Brandon Mebane returning from injury to strengthen the defensive line but what about the secondary and the ‘Legion of Boom’? Seattle tied up the best Corner in the NFL in Richard Sherman and now the other guys want their money and that’s where the Wilson deal could cause some pain.
They have lost Byron Maxwell and Kam Chancellor is holding out for a better deal but they have retained Earl Thomas and added Cary Williams from Philly who is well suited to Seattle’s style so all in all the defence looks set to continue their dominance, even with losing Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn to Atlanta. This is especially true if they retain Chancellor which is expected to happen.
The fact is the Seahawks are starting to feel the pinch of the cheap, young and underrated team that won SB48 and now have to be paid but few are better suited to manage things than Schneider.
Seattle have more than enough to retain the NFC West, and few would bet against them being at the Levis Stadium come February 2016. How sweet would it be for Seattle to win a second Lombardi on the 49ers home turf?
You can follow Seattle Seahawks fan Lee at @Wightpie! Enjoy!