Don’t push panic button on Russell Wilson, Seahawks’ lack of contract talks

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is entering the final year of his deal and according to head coach Pete Carroll, who spoke with reporters on Jan. 7, a contract extension is “very much in [Seattle’s] plans.”

Seahawks’ potential free agency departures

Despite that sentiment, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Wilson and the Seahawks have not yet had a single conversation about contract negotiations. Is there any reason for Seahawks fans to be concerned?

Not really, according to both 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny O’Neil and John Clayton.

“It shows you that people are talking to him about it. And that at the very least, someone is trying to get out there that (they haven’t been spoken to yet),” O’Neil said Monday.

“Even if (Wilson) didn’t sign an extension now, the Seahawks still have a franchise tag they can put on him for 2020. It’s an attempt to create a sense of urgency… this deal is not going to get signed, if it is even signed, until August.”

Clayton echoed O’Neil Tuesday morning, telling 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard and Mike Salk that the Seahawks are likely prioritizing other deals for impending free agent starters.

“You have other things that you need to get done, and its going to be a tough negotiation,” Clayton said. “But like with any negotiation, deadlines are the key, and there’s no deadline at the moment.

“At this moment the idea is that you try to get deals done with Frank Clark, and you try to get deals done with your offensive linemen. And so that’s the time that you start to work on that. There’s no panic, I mean Russell Wilson is under contract and you can franchise him for two years. But also what you have to be able to do, particularly with a contract that’s going to be that big, is see what contracts left have to be done because you have to keep the rest of the team together. Because that’s the idea: keeping the rest of the team together is the key.”

Regardless of when an agreement is reached, both expect the same result: Wilson isn’t going anywhere.

Wilson, 30, is entering the final year of a four-year, $87.6 million deal originally signed on July 31, 2015, which works out to about $21.9 million per year. A new contract could exceed the $33 million per year the Packers are paying Aaron Rodgers, and according to former agent Joel Corry, potentially reach $35 million per year.

How much will it cost the Seahawks to keep DE Frank Clark?