On Thursday, Broncos’ QB Russell Wilson signed a contract extension which has made him of the highest-paid players in NFL history. The new era in Denver continues to get better, as Mr. Unlimited himself, Russell Wilson, is tied to Denver for the next seven years.
The contract extension, which will add on to his current deal with two years left, was a five-year pact worth $245 million, with $165 in guarantees. The new contract in total is worth seven years and $296 million. It’s a good deal for both sides, as Wilson gets the new deal he was seeking and the team doesn’t burn themselves financially because of it.
Some seem to be lower on Wilson because of his “off” 2021 season, but Russell Wilson is still very elite, and I believe he’ll show that in 2022 and beyond. I want to take a different perspective with this piece and look at how his new contract stacks up with other quarterbacks around the league.
Wilson’s deal is likely to fall down the money charts once other quarterbacks sign their extensions, but for now, it’s one of the top deals in the NFL. Right now, Wilson’s $49 million average salary for his new deal ranks second in the NFL, behind Aaron Rodgers, who is a hair over $50 million.
His $165 million in guarantees ranks third in the NFL behind Deshaun Watson and Kyler Murray. He ranks above Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, and Patrick Mahomes in this metric. The five-year extension is tied for the third longest among quarterbacks in the NFL, behind Mahomes at 10 years, and Allen at six years.
Since the five-year extension added on to the two remaining years on his current deal, his seven-year, $296 million pact is worth about $42 million per year, which is a steal if we look at it that way. In future years, I would expect players like Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert to pass up Wilson in most of the metrics listed above.
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Right now, though, Russell Wilson’s contract extension is one of the richest in the NFL and is very much deserved.