Story out yesterday that Russell Wilson is looking for a new contract. He's earned one, certainly, though I wonder if that factored into a crazy rumor here in New York a few weeks back that the Giants were looking to trade for him. Most likely, Seattle and Wilson will work something out, and he'll be their quarterback for a long time to come.
If and when Kyler Murray is the top pick in the NFL Draft, he should send a thank you note to Wilson. Wilson has done as much for undersized, dual-threat quarterbacks as any other player. After the entire league let him fall to the third round, teams won't make the mistake of underestimating undersized running quarterbacks again.
Wilson won a Super Bowl with Seattle, of course, and has helped put to rest the old belief that it would be tough for shorter quarterbacks (he's 5-foot-11, an inch taller than Murray) to see over the line of scrimmage or whatnot. Like Murray, who rushed for 1,001 yards at Oklahoma last year, he's also helped his cause with his legs.
Over the last five seasons, only Cam Newton has rushed for more yards than Wilson. Four of the other quarterbacks who show up high in that area were drafted in the first two rounds the last two seasons: Trubisky, Watson, Allen and Jackson. This is today's NFL.
| QUARTERBACKS AS RUNNERS, 2014-2018 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | '14 | '15 | '16 | '17 | '18 | Tot | TD |
| Cam Newton | 539 | 636 | 359 | 754 | 488 | 2776 | 30 |
| Russell Wilson | 849 | 553 | 259 | 586 | 376 | 2623 | 12 |
| Blake Bortles | 419 | 310 | 359 | 322 | 365 | 1775 | 9 |
| Tyrod Taylor | -3 | 568 | 580 | 427 | 125 | 1697 | 15 |
| Alex Smith | 254 | 498 | 134 | 355 | 168 | 1409 | 10 |
| Aaron Rodgers | 269 | 344 | 369 | 126 | 269 | 1377 | 9 |
| Colin Kaepernick | 639 | 256 | 468 | - | - | 1363 | 4 |
| Marcus Mariota | - | 252 | 349 | 312 | 357 | 1270 | 11 |
| Andrew Luck | 273 | 196 | 341 | - | 148 | 958 | 5 |
| Dak Prescott | - | - | 282 | 357 | 305 | 944 | 18 |
| Deshaun Watson | - | - | - | 269 | 551 | 820 | 7 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 184 | 270 | 130 | 78 | 152 | 814 | 6 |
| Jameis Winston | - | 210 | 165 | 135 | 281 | 791 | 9 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 311 | 141 | 164 | - | 145 | 761 | 3 |
| Lamar Jackson | - | - | - | - | 695 | 695 | 5 |
| Andy Dalton | 169 | 142 | 184 | 99 | 99 | 693 | 12 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | - | - | - | 248 | 421 | 669 | 5 |
| Josh Allen | - | - | - | - | 631 | 631 | 8 |
| Matthew Stafford | 93 | 159 | 207 | 98 | 71 | 628 | 5 |
| Matt Ryan | 145 | 63 | 117 | 143 | 125 | 593 | 3 |
| Carson Wentz | - | - | 150 | 299 | 93 | 542 | 2 |
| Kirk Cousins | 20 | 48 | 96 | 179 | 123 | 466 | 14 |
| DeShone Kizer | - | - | - | 419 | 39 | 458 | 5 |
| Jay Cutler | 191 | 201 | 24 | 32 | - | 448 | 3 |
| Blaine Gabbert | 5 | 185 | 173 | 82 | 0 | 445 | 3 |
| Derek Carr | 92 | 138 | 70 | 66 | 47 | 413 | 1 |
| Teddy Bridgewater | 209 | 192 | - | -3 | 5 | 403 | 4 |
| Josh McCown | 127 | 98 | 21 | 124 | 32 | 402 | 9 |
Last column shows touchdown runs by those quarterbacks, and nobody is really close to Newton (30); Dak Prescott has 18. But Josh Allen rushed for 8 last season, so maybe he'll make a run (so to speak) to the top over the next few seasons.
Seattle will likely work out a contract with Wilson, although I suppose you never know. They've been surprisingly willing to let veterans go in recent years, confident in their system and their ability to replace those players. But most likely Wilson will be the exception -- a guy they break the bank to make sure they keep around.
--Andy Richardson