NFL's Highest-Paid Player Is Now a 5-Foot-11 Quarterback - Report
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson became the highest-paid player in the NFL when he signed four-year, $140 million contract extension with his team, ESPN reported Tuesday.
The deal includes a league-record $65 million signing bonus, according to the report, as well as a no-trade clause.
With the extension, Wilson will be in Seattle through the 2023 season.
The contract will pay Wilson $35 million per year, which tops the deal quarterback Aaron Rodgers signed with the Green Bay Packers last August.
Rodgers signed a four-year, $134 million deal with an average annual salary of $33.5 million. Rodgers got a signing bonus of $57.5 million.
“Hey Seattle, we got a deal,” Wilson said in a video tweet early Tuesday morning as he was lying in bed next to his wife, pop star Ciara.
“Go Hawks. I’m gonna see y’all in the morning. Time for y’all to go to bed,” he said.
SEATTLE. Let’s get it. @Seahawks #GoHawks pic.twitter.com/xeWnEnUzmR
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) April 16, 2019
A few hours later, Wilson, an outspoken Christian, tweeted, “My Hallelujah belongs to YOU.”
My Hallelujah belongs to YOU. #AllForYourGlory ??????
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) April 16, 2019
The 30-year-old quarterback is a five-time Pro Bowler who led the Seahawks to the franchise’s only championship, a 43-8 victory in Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos on Feb. 2, 2014.
The team had been negotiating with Wilson over the past few days. The quarterback had set a deadline of Monday at midnight to get a deal done or else he would cut off talks.
“At the end of the day, my guy wants to live, work, thrive in Seattle,” Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, said Tuesday, reported ESPN. “Loves this town and its fans. He compromised to stay here. I respect that.”
To Mark Rodgers @JohnMarkRodgers my agent & father figure… You believed in me 10 years ago when no one else would..
Thanks for being who you are as a man and friend. You are the best in the game.
? #FootballandBaseball ⚾️
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) April 16, 2019
Wilson was drafted in the third round with the 75th pick by the Seahawks in 2012.
He was measured at the combine in 2012 at 5 feet 10 and 5/8th of an inch, ESPN reported at the time.
“His height, measured by NFL scouting combine officials at 5-foot-10 and five-eighths of an inch, doesn’t measure up to long-established league standards,” ESPN’s Mike Sando reported April 30, 2012. “That is why the Seahawks were able to draft the Wisconsin quarterback with only the 75th overall choice even though Wilson appears dynamic by other measures, including his arm, athleticism and leadership.”
Wilson’s height, which the team has rounded up to 5 feet 11, obviously has not held him back.
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