Before Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson secured his second contract, he spent plenty of time flirting with baseball. After he received a deal that averages just under $22 million per year, baseball subsided.
It’s now back, and it may not be a coincidence.
The sudden, bizarre news that the Texas Rangers traded Wilson, who has shown no inclination to do anything other than make a training-camp cameo, to the New York Yankees may be something more than an screwball of curiosity. It may be the subtle beginnings of a message to the Seahawks that it’s time to think about providing more value to one of the most valuable players in the league.
With quarterbacks who have accomplished significantly less than Wilson now making significantly more than him, this may be part of a broader play by the franchise quarterback to get the attention of the franchise. He’s due to make $15.5 million and $17 million, respectively, under the final two years of his contract. Based on what he did for the offense last year, Wilson clearly deserves more.
Until he gets more, maybe we’ll hear more about Wilson playing baseball.
Making the situation less likely to be a coincidence is the fact that Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, has only one NFL client (Wilson) but plenty of baseball clients. So Rodgers is in position to work his MLB contacts in order to, for example, finagle a trade of a low-level non-playing prospect in order to give Rodgers’ lone football client a little more leverage in his effort to get the kind of football contract he already should have.