The Seattle Seahawks have some serious contract concerns looming on the horizon. While Frank Clark’s battle for an extension has been quite public, the Seahawks are also facing potential extensions for star quarterback Russell Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner, who both will see their current deals run out after the 2019 season.
That doesn’t even include interior defensive lineman Jarran Reed, who also is set to hit free agency after 2019.
General manager John Schneider, speaking Monday on 710 ESPN Seattle, said he does believe it’s possible to extend all three – Clark, Wilson and Wagner.
“Yeah, it is, but it’s challenging then (because) you’ve got to compensate in other areas, right?” Schneider explained. “So you’ve got to figure out what’s your offensive line going to look like, what’s the defensive backfield going to look like? Several years ago people were like, ‘There’s no way you guys can keep Kam and Earl and Sherm, there’s no way that thing can stay together.’ . . . We just continued to work our process and work through it, and that worked out. So I see that happening the same way.”
Although specific monetary figures have not been released, it is expected that the trio will command a total yearly salary between $55-60 million.
The 2019 NFL salary cap is around $188 million, and will likely climb incrementally over the next few years. Still, that could mean Seattle would be spending around 30 percent of their entire cap on those three players.
The rest of Seattle’s team is fairly young right now, and presently, the Seahawks have 11 picks lined up for the 2020 NFL draft. It’s possible they could stomach huge contracts for the impactful trio of players, although it certainly wouldn’t bode well for guys like Jarran Reed and Bradley McDougald when they come looking for new deals of their own.
