The Seattle Seahawks may have lost Super Bowl XLIX in heart-breaking fashion, but the good news for fans of the team is that their roster is deep, talented and under head coach Pete Carroll, seems ready, willing and supremely able to annually compete for the NFL title.
Two of the main cogs in the Hawks' current run of success - quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch - are to set to sign contract extensions with the organization. While that will no doubt be good news for the Seattle faithful, it could also mean a tightening of the purse strings elsewhere, leading to some difficult offseason decisions for Carroll and GM John Schneider.
"Russell Wilson's bargain-basement contract has been a tremendous competitive advantage, allowing general manager John Schneider to sign impact free agents such as Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril," writes Chris Wesseling of NFL.com. "Now that Wilson is set to become the league's highest-paid player and Marshawn Lynch has been offered one of the NFL's most lucrative running-back contracts, the Seahawks will be forced to make tougher decisions in constructing their roster."
Wilson and Lynch are both under contract for one more year, but the team is interested in signing both to contract extensions this offseason.
Wilson has been playing under a deal that pays him less than $1 million, annually. That is set to change dramatically.
"NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reports, via sources involved in the situation, Russell Wilson is expected to become the NFL's highest-paid quarterback when the Seahawks sign him to a long-term extension in the coming offseason," writes Wesseling in a separate report.
The league's current highest paid signal-caller is Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, who averages $22 million annually.
Lynch is, according to Rapoport, set to sign a "huge contract extension" which will pay him more than $10 million in 2015 and keep him in a Seahawks uniform "for years to come."
The combination of the two deals will mean that Carroll and Schneider have much less wiggle room when it comes to upgrading other areas of the roster - though the team admittedly has few areas that are in dire need of an upgrade.
The biggest offseason need for the NFC champions seems to be wide receiver. Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse are dependable, if not necessarily game-breaking wideouts, while rookie Paul Richardson tore his ACL and Chris Matthews may be nothing more than a one-hit, Super Bowl wonder.
It's not hard to imagine what Wilson and the Seahawks offense could look like with a true No. 1 receiver on the outside.
Guard James Carpenter and cornerback Byron Maxwell are the two biggest names most likely to price themselves out of Seattle. Tight end Zach Miller and defensive tackle Brandon Mebane are expensive veterans that could be axed.
