By Bob Condotta
The Seattle Times
RENTON, Wash. — It was a deal that ultimately gave each side what they wanted.
Bobby Wagner wanted to stay with the Seahawks and be the highest-paid player at his position in the NFL.
The Seahawks wanted to make that happen while still keeping as much salary cap flexibility down the road as possible.
The compromise that ended Wagner’s “non-holdout holdout” was finally reached Friday afternoon when Wagner agreed to a three-year extension worth $54 million that keeps him with the Seahawks through the 2022 season.
The $18 million average per year tops the $17 million of C.J. Mosley of the New York Jets, who signed a deal in March that vastly re-set the linebacker market and that Wagner said in the spring was what he wanted.
But while Wagner now holds the highest-paid inside linebacker title —one he may keep for a while — Seattle didn’t go all the way to five years the way the Jets did with Mosley. Seattle has been burned before by “third contracts,” notably one given to Kam Chancellor before the 2017 season that ended up hamstringing the team a bit when Chancellor suffered a career-ending injury that year.
Wagner got his per-year average and a big, new payday while Seattle kept the commitment at a comfortable level.
The deal, which reportedly includes guarantees of $40.2 million, was first reported by the NFL Network and confirmed by the Seahawks early Friday evening.
“I’m really excited to have this done, excited that I get to be a Seahawk for a long, long time,” Wagner said in a quote from the team’s website, Seahawks.com, announcing the signing. “Like I’ve always said, I want to play my entire career here, and I feel like today is a step toward that. It feels amazing being here. I’ve watched people stay, I’ve watched people go, and to have the trust from the organization to continue to let me lead this team, lead the defense, it’s a great feeling. I’m excited to get back to work.”
Said Seahawks general manager John Schneider via the team: “We feel blessed that we were able to draft Bobby in 2012, keep him here on a second contract, and now to have him sign a third contract is a huge deal for us. Everyone in the whole building is excited, I’m sure his teammates are going to be very excited. He exemplifies everything that we’re all about, his professionalism, intensity, the way he handles himself off the field. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll go down not only as one of the greatest Seahawks, but also as one of the greatest middle linebackers in NFL history. It’s a major deal for our organization moving into the future.”
The 29-year-old Wagner was entering the final season of a four-year deal signed in 2015 that was worth up to $43 million.
He had been desiring a new contract all offseason and had not taken part in any on-field drills with the Seahawks throughout the team’s offseason program or the first two days of training camp.
On Friday, for the team’s second practice of camp, Wagner put on a helmet and jersey.
That was in stark contrast to day one of training camp on Thursday when Wagner wore only a hoodie turned inside out, with no Seahawks identification visible.
That may have irked coach Pete Carroll a little bit —he mentioned after Thursday’s practice that he would “visit” with Wagner about how he was dealing with practices while he remained without a new contract.
Teammates, though, said Wagner was not frustrated and had indicated optimism a new deal would come soon — Wagner has not talked to the media since training camp began.
“I’ve talked to Bobby (about his contract situation),” quarterback Russell Wilson said after Friday’s practice. “. …he deserves to be the highest paid linebacker. There is nobody better in the game, that’s just the honest truth. He’s done great things, he’s put up all the stats, he’s done all the things. I think he will get taken care of. I have all the confidence it will work out. We need Bobby Wagner. He’s a great football player. I don’t want to play (against) him that’s for sure. I love for him to be on my team . Let’s play together for a long time. Bobby and I have goals, too. We are very similar. We want to win a Super Bowl together again, a few more Super Bowls and end it the right way, you now what I mean? So that’s kind of our mentality.”
The contract means that Seattle now has its two cornerstone players — Wilson and Wagner — in the fold for at least four more seasons each (kicker Jason Myers is the only other player not on a rookie contract who is under contract through the 2022 season).
Wilson signed a four-year contract making him the highest-paid player in the NFL at $140 million total, $35 per season.
Wagner, essentially the quarterback of the defense, is now the highest-paid player at his position, each members of the team’s immortal draft class of 2012 —Wagner in the second round and Wilson in the third.
“He’s my great friend,” Wilson said Friday. “He’s a guy that came in in 2012. When we came in in 2012 they (some NFL draft analysts) gave us an F-grade, and we sat down, Bobby, myself, Bruce Irvin, the rest of the guys, we sat down in the room and said ‘hey we’re going to change the outlook.” And so that was the big thing and so that’s still the case today.
Schneider said keeping Wilson and Wagner secured was a major goal of the team’s offseason, as well as also re-signing linebacker K.J. Wright, Wagner’s good friend.
Those three are the only three players left from the team that won the Super Bowl following the 2013 season.
“Those are two pillars that we want to build a young football team around,” Schneider said of Wilson and Wagner in a comment to Seahawks.com. “That was a primary goal for us as we entered the offseason, and knowing that we’re going to be a young football team with great leadership on both sides of the ball —Bobby, K.J. and Russ —that’s big for us.”
