Russell Wilson’s baseball interest presents an interesting scenario

Russell Wilson flexed some power on Saturday in Arizona when he homered while taking part in batting practice with the Rangers.

Whether Wilson intended it or not, he also served a reminder of a unique bit of leverage he holds in his upcoming contract negotiations with the Seahawks.

The man may still harbor some baseball ambitions, hopes that could be described as both impractical given his hitting difficulties in the minor leagues and unlikely given his job as Seattle’s starting quarterback.

That’s why the following scenario should be filed somewhere between “Idle Speculation” and “Wild Conjecture.” Re-read that previous sentence when anything that follows strikes you as outlandish. There is nothing to indicate Wilson is planning a return to professional baseball other than the fact he has never completely shut the door on the sport when asked about it, BUT – and yes, that’s all caps – if the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension this offseason, it would leave the door open for Wilson to choose to play baseball next spring training unfettered by a Seahawks contract.

Deep breaths, Seattle. That is not a likely scenario. It’s not even very realistic. It is more like a logical exercise in NFL contract particulars combined with my own pet theory that Wilson isn’t necessarily done with baseball.

If Wilson were to play out the final year of his rookie contract in 2015, the Seahawks would designate him their franchise player to stifle any threat of losing him as a free agent next spring. If Wilson were designated as the franchise player, he wouldn’t be obligated to sign that contract, opening the door to give spring training an honest try if he wanted without any restrictions from his football team, which at that point, he wouldn’t be signed with.

He has not talked about a desire to give the sport another go after leaving the Rockies’ minor-league team in summer 2011 to take over as Wisconsin’s quarterback. He has not talked about a fresh start when the Rangers chose him in baseball’s Rule 5 draft two years ago. In fact, he has not done anything more than show up for a day-long visit to Rangers spring training in two successive years.

On Saturday, Wilson took ground balls and batting practice, and while that doesn’t constitute much of anything in regard to baseball development, it is one factor to file away if the Seahawks and Wilson were somehow unable to come to terms on a contract extension this offseason.

That’s unlikely. After all, it would mean Wilson would play next season for $1.5 million instead of taking the monstrous raise that’s certain to be on the table from Seattle. The sheer magnitude of that raise means that Wilson would be reckless not to find a middle ground, but if that were to be the case, he would have options at the other end. Just not necessarily free-agent options.

The Seahawks would be certain to apply the franchise tag. In fact, they could apply an exclusive-rights franchise tag to keep anyone else from negotiating with Wilson.

What the Seahawks couldn’t do, however, is force Wilson to sign. Remember how Walter Jones wouldn’t show up until the week before the regular season started when he was given the franchise tag? That was because he didn’t sign it, meaning he wasn’t subject to any fines for not showing up.

Wilson, similarly, would have a choice, only instead of choosing to skip training camp in August, he could choose to attend Rangers spring training in March.

Is it likely? Nope. Is it at least theoretically interesting? You bet.

In three years covering Wilson, I have always felt that there’s still an itch there, a belief he might be able to hit the curveball this time around. And given the fact Wilson balanced two sports through four years at North Carolina State, there’s got to be at least a small part of him that thinks he could give baseball a go without having it impact either his preparedness or focus on his primary job as Seattle’s starting quarterback.

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