Kyler Murray Deal Could Provide Template for Russell Wilson, Broncos Pact
Somewhere in San Diego, with less than a week until he reports to training camp, Russell Wilson is smiling.
That's because, elsewhere in Arizona, the Cardinals signed star quarterback Kyler Murray to a five-year contract extension on Thursday. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Murray's deal is worth $230.5 million and includes $160 million guaranteed. He becomes the NFL's second-highest-paid signal-caller at $46.1 million annually, behind only Aaron Rodgers.
To which Wilson says, "Let's ride." Probably.
The nine-time Pro Bowler, of course, is angling for his own payday following a blockbuster offseason trade to the Denver Broncos. Wilson, 33, is entering the penultimate year of the then-record-setting $140 million pact signed with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019. He's due a $19 million base salary and will count $24 million against the salary cap for the 2022 campaign.
It was loosely reported last month that Wilson has a five-year, $250 million "asking price" in negotiations that remain ongoing, albeit glacial, with Broncos general manager George Paton, who's acknowledged a willingness to lock down his franchise cornerstone.
“We’re open. We obviously want him here for a long time, but nothing is imminent," Paton said on March 18. "I’m sure we will talk soon. We didn’t make this trade not to have him here for a very long time.”
More often than not, a player will reset his positional market upon putting pen to paper on a megadeal. Such isn't the case with Murray, whose windfall pales in comparison to the fully-guaranteed $230 million contract that Cleveland handed Deshaun Watson in March.
The time might be now for Denver to bite the bullet with Wilson, before another waiting QB — Lamar Jackson, perhaps — surpasses Watson's astronomical benchmark.
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