Peter King: Russell Wilson won’t negotiate with Seahawks again if deal not reached Monday

While I’ve been saying for awhile now that Russell Wilson’s April 15 deadline is more like a “deadline” in that it wouldn’t make sense for Wilson to turn down a deal past the deadline if it met his demands. But either Wilson or his agent Mark Rodgers or Peter King are trying to make it more serious than that. According to King’s Football Morning in America column this week, Wilson and Rodgers won’t negotiate with the Seattle Seahawks again if a contract isn’t reached on Monday.

Today’s a big day in the Pacific Northwest if you take Wilson and Rodgers at their word, that—according to a source close to the talks—they say they won’t do a long-term deal with the Seahawks if it’s not done by tonight. Read that last sentence again. I didn’t mean they’d put off further talks on a new contract till 2020 if it’s not done by tonight. I meant Wilson and Rodgers don’t plan to negotiate further with the Seahawks, period. My source says they’ve told GM John Schneider it has to be done now, or not at all.

If this were true, it could mean that Wilson will never sign with the Seahawks again if the deal isn’t done on the 15th. If this were true, it could also mean that Wilson might still sign with the Seahawks again if the deal isn’t done on the 15th; I wouldn’t necessarily back off of my point that if Seattle gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse, he wouldn’t refuse it.

It also brings up some potential sticking points for the rest of 2019 if the Seahawks and Wilson don’t reach an agreement on Monday, mainly that many fans will say Wilson “doesn’t want to be here, so trade him” and the like, putting a negative light on the near future even if these rumors are actually untrue.

King’s source also says that Wilson wants certain contract language that has never been given to a player before, such as having his salary adjusted based on league success and the salary cap. This type of deal could certainly create further considerations and calculations for the Seahawks that go beyond guaranteed money and annual value that we never really considered.

If any of it is true. If it’s coming from Wilson’s camp, and if they really do want this to come out to increase pressure on the team to make a move now and not just think what I’ve been thinking, “We’ll consider it when we consider it.” Maybe Wilson does want to make it a more difficult decision for Seattle. That would make sense. He’s a businessman.