The Seahawks have locked up one of the best defensive players in football. Seattle is signing linebacker Bobby Wagner to a three-year extension worth $54M, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Rapoport added that Wagner will get $40.2M in guaranteed money. At $18M annually, Wagner is now the highest-paid inside linebacker in the game, eclipsing the $17M that C.J. Mosley got from the Jets earlier this offseason. Wagner made it clear a few days ago he would attend training camp on time even though he didn’t have the new deal he wanted yet, as he wanted to be a good leader and locker room presence.
Wagner has been standing off to the side and observing practice at the first few days of camp, clearly waiting for this deal to get done. The Utah State product had been set to enter the final year of a four-year, $43M extension he signed back in 2015. There’s now a huge gap between Wagner and Mosley at the top and the rest of the inside linebackers. Deion Jones is in third place with the extension he recently signed with the Falcons, which will pay him a tick over $14M annually.
Wagner originally entered the league as a second-round pick back in 2012. He’s since firmly established himself as the league’s best off-ball linebacker, making the Pro Bowl in each of the last five seasons and being named a First-Team All-Pro in each of the last three. One of the last remaining pieces of the Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning defense, Wagner is the team’s next most important player after Russell Wilson. He’s been a rock for them, starting at least 15 games in each of the past four seasons.
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