(make that) 3 More Years for Seneca Wallace

According to Adam Schefter of NFL Network, the Seahawks signed Seneca Wallace to a three-year, $5.4 million contract. However, according to Tim Ruskell, the deal is for four years, which means Shefter was wrong. The 3-year number must have referred to additional years, but we're going to assume the rest of the details were correct. So it amounts to a three-year, $4.6 million extension over the one year and $800,000 left on his contract.

This move still indicates that Seneca Wallace is fairly entrenched as the #2 QB, but it is less certain than if the extension was for only 2 more years. The contract calls for his base salary to jump to $2 million this season. That was essentially a $1.2 million signing bonus, but the Seahawks get to count that toward the 2007 cap, which is a big advantage because they have the room.

That means Wallace is scheduled to earn $3.4 million from 2008 through 2010 combined (not including his $1.2 million de facto signing bonus). Part of that is a $400,000 roster bonus that he will receive in March. The Seahawks could theoretically cut him before then, and would only be out the $1.2 million without any future salary cap penalties. That obviously isn't their plan, but this move is relatively low-risk.

I can't see another QB signing in Seattle with Seneca Wallace on the roster making $1.533 million per year (including his signing bonus) over the next three seasons. The Seahawks gave him the $1.2 million to lock him up for 3 more years. That is low-risk, especially with no salary cap implications, but that isn't money the Seahawks want to throw away.

If they could convince someone else to sign here (or made a trade), then I guess they could move Seneca Wallace to the #3, so maybe the cash was pay off money for him to accept that, or to put him in a position where he is forced to accept that.

Matt Hasselbeck is only making $16.75 million combined in 2008 and 2009, so the total QB budget could have room for another #2 QB salary. It will only be $20.15 million total over the next 3 years between Hasselbeck and Wallace. Although Hasselbeck's signing bonus counts $3.2 million per year in 2008 and 2009.

That still means that both of them combined will only count a total of $26.55 million against the cap from 2008 through 2010. An average cap figure of $8.85 million isn't all that much for both of them when other top QBs are getting $10 million a year. At the same time, it doesn't make any sense to give a quarterback a $1.2 million signing bonus, and a total of $4.6 million in new money, just to be a #3.

The team gets the benefit of counting $1.2 million in 2007 because he signed that extension now instead of as a free agent after his season, but they are really out an extra $1.533 million a year over the next three seasons assuming Wallace is on the roster. That makes him a relatively low paid #2, but it would make him one of the highest paid #3s in the NFL.