Seahawks make Wilson the best player in the NFL

The Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson have reached a four-year $ 140-million extension deal, which includes a $ 65 million signing bonus and made him the NFL's highest paid player, said a source to Adam Schefter from ESPN on Tuesday morning.

With the four new years added to his contract, Wilson is now contractually bound to the Seahawks until the 2023 season, the source said.

Wilson, without specifying the terms, said he reached an agreement in a video posted on Twitter about 45 minutes after the deadline of midnight set by his party for an extension.

"Hey Seattle, we have an agreement," Wilson said sleepily, lying in bed next to his wife Ciara. "Come on Hawks, but I'll see you in the morning, it's time for you to go to bed."

SEATTLE. Let's go and take ownership of it. @ Seahawks #GoHawks pic.twitter.com/xeWnEnUzmR

– Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) April 16, 2019

The deal had apparently ended after four days of negotiations between the Seahawks and Wilson's agent, Mark Rodgers, who arrived at the team's headquarters on Friday.

He retains Wilson, a five-time pro, and quarterback of the only Super Bowl winning team in the history of the Seahawks. And this avoids Wilson going from year to year on franchise etiquette, which would have paved the way for a possible divorce.

Wilson, 30, was earning $ 17 million in 2019, the last season of the $ 87.6 million extension that he had signed in the summer of 2015 for four years. His team had given the Seahawks a deadline of Monday at midnight for contract, and according to Schefter, did not intend to return to negotiations this year if there was no agreement at this stage.

Wilson had said at the end of last season that he would be comfortable to begin the last year of his current contract if necessary.

"Oh yes, if that's what I have to do," Wilson said. "It's business and everything, I know that after the season I could potentially become a free agent, that sort of thing, I do not think that way, I see myself in Seattle." love Seattle and it's a special place for me. "

Coach Pete Carroll, who also spoke at the end of the season, said that an extension of Wilson was "really in our plans". More recently, he said at the NFL's annual meetings last month that both parties were "on the ground" in terms of Wilson's potential extension without further clarification. But when the deadline was reported for the first time in early April, and especially at the midnight approach, on Monday, nothing indicated whether or not they would reach an agreement.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the negotiations of his contract, Wilson was present Monday for the start of the volunteer program of the team, while his agent and the Seahawks continued to meet.

The Wilson extension in 2015 averaged $ 21.9 million, making it the second-best-paid second quarter in terms of annual average, behind Rodgers, at the time. 22 million. Wilson dropped to 12th on the list before his last overtime put him at the top.

Once Wilson is supported, the Seahawks can then, after the draft, focus on potential extensions for the All-Pro central linebacker. Bobby Wagner and Frank Clark, the top scorer in the team. However, it will not be easy to extend them given the amount they are now paying Wilson and the fact that Wagner and Clark's extensions would be near or at the top of the market for their positions. Clark has been the subject of commercial rumors and has not yet signed his franchise label of $ 17.128 billion.