The Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson have reached agreement on a four-year, $140 million extension that includes a $65 million signing bonus and makes the quarterback the highest-paid player in the NFL, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Tuesday morning.
The four-year extension, which was signed and announced on Tuesday, keeps the 30-year-old Wilson with the Seahawks through the 2023 season.
"Russ has been a huge factor in everything that has happened, and this allows us to stay on track with continuing to push to find that consistency," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "Russell is a unique player, a unique competitor. It's rare the way he's just so consistently connected to competing and battling. To keep that factor as part of the program is just a real positive for our fans and for everyone."
In addition to topping Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' contract as the richest ever with a new-money annual average of $35 million per season, Wilson's signing bonus also sets a record. Rodgers was first in both categories at $33.5 million and $57.5 million, respectively, on the extension he signed last summer.
The deal includes a no-trade clause, a source said.
Wilson is a five-time Pro Bowler and the quarterback of the only Super Bowl-winning team in Seahawks history.
"What has stood the test of time is his consistency," Carroll said. "The consistency of his extraordinary commitment to being as good as he can possibly be. He's trying to figure out at every turn how he can be a great player, and he has never wavered, he has never taken a step back from that at any time, never missed an opportunity to step up to the challenges in front of him, because he's always on ready. It has been remarkable to see it. It has been a thrill."
Wilson, without specifying terms, said he had reached a deal in a video he posted to Twitter about 45 minutes after the passing of the midnight deadline that his side had set for an extension.
"Hey Seattle, we got a deal," a sleepy-sounding Wilson says while lying in bed next to his wife, Ciara. "Go Hawks. But I'ma see y'all in the morning. Time for y'all to go to bed."
SEATTLE. Let's get it. @Seahawks #GoHawks pic.twitter.com/xeWnEnUzmR
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) April 16, 2019
The deal was apparently finished after four days of negotiations between the Seahawks and Wilson's agent, Mark Rodgers, who arrived at the team's headquarters Friday.
It keeps Wilson under contract through his age-35 season. And it avoids the messy route of Wilson going year-to-year on the franchise tag, which would have paved the way for an eventual divorce.
"At the end of the day, my guy wants to live, work, thrive in Seattle," Rodgers said Tuesday. "Loves this town and its fans. He compromised to stay here. I respect that."
Wilson was set to make $17 million in 2019, the final season of the four-year, $87.6 million extension he signed in the summer of 2015. His side had given the Seahawks a deadline of midnight Monday for a new contract and, according to Schefter, did not intend to revisit negotiations this year if there wasn't a deal by that point.
Wilson had said at the end of last season that he would be comfortable going into the final year of his current deal if needed.
"Oh yeah, if that's what I've got to do," Wilson said. "It's business and everything. I know essentially after the season, I could potentially be a free agent, that kind of thing. I don't think that way. I see myself being in Seattle. I love Seattle, and it's a special place for me."
Coach Pete Carroll, also speaking at the end of the season, said an extension for Wilson was "very much in our plans." More recently, he said at the NFL's annual meetings last month that the two sides were "on it" in terms of a potential Wilson extension without elaborating. But when the deadline was first reported in early April and especially as midnight Monday drew nearer, there was no indication of whether they would come to an agreement.
Despite the uncertainty over his contract negotiations, Wilson was present for the start of the team's voluntary offseason program on Monday as his agent and the Seahawks continued to meet.
Wilson's 2015 extension averaged $21.9 million, which at the time made him the second-highest-paid quarterback in terms of annual average, below Rodgers at $22 million. Wilson had fallen all the way to 12th on that list before his latest extension put him at the top.
With Wilson taken care of, the Seahawks can now focus their attention after the draft to potential extensions for All-Pro middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and Frank Clark, the team's top pass-rusher. However, it will be no easy task to extend both of their contracts, given how much money the Seahawks are now paying Wilson and the fact that Wagner's and Clark's extensions would be near or at the top of the market for their positions. Clark has been the subject of trade rumors and has yet to sign his $17.128 million franchise tag.
Wilson is coming off arguably the best season of his seven-year career. He edged his previous career bests with 35 touchdown passes and a 110.9 passer rating while tying his career low of seven interceptions. Wilson did that on 427 attempts, his fewest since 2013, as the Seahawks operated one of the league's most run-heavy offenses. Only Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes finished with a better rating than Wilson's 110.9.