Will K.J. Wright take a hometown discount to stay with the Seahawks? ‘Nah man.’
K.J. Wright wants to stay where he’s been for the last decade, as a mainstay for the best run in Seahawks history.
But he’s not taking a hometown discount to do it.
The longest-tenured Seahawk made that as clear as he possibly could in an interview that aired nationally Monday on CBS Sports’ The Jim Rome Show.
“Nah, man. I do way too much on the football field to take a discount,” Wright, who turns 32 in July, told Rome. “It makes absolutely no sense. Like, if you want to win all these championships and look good on Sundays you’ve got to compensate your guys who are making plays. ...
“I have a family. I am trying to set up long-, long-term success for my family.
“So, that’s kind of out of the question.”
Later Monday, Wright posted a response on Twitter to a fan asserting Wright refusing a hometown discount means he won’t be playing for Seattle in 2021.
“Not so fast my friend. There’s time to get creative,” Wright posted.
His two-year contract worth up to $15 million ended with Seattle’s home playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams last month.
Wright’s been speaking clearly about what he wants for a while now.
After his 10th season as Seattle’s multi-talented, weakside, strongside, all-side linebacker in 2020 was one of his best, he declared he wanted to play an 11th season.
And he reiterated last month he wanted to play his entire career, finish it, with the Seahawks.
The way Wright sounded talking to Rome Monday, it may take the Seahawks offering something near that average of $7.5 million per year to keep him playing for them instead of some other team for the first time in 2021.
“That would be a beautiful story, if I could just ride it all out with the Seahawks. That’s some legendary-type stuff,” Wright told Rome.
“Like I said before I left (for the offseason): I believe it would be a great investment for Seattle to keep me. Because, as you’ve seen, since I’ve been here we’ve been nothing but awesome, always making it to the playoffs, winning our division.
“So they know how much I want to be here. But at the end of the day, I get it.
“I’ve been looking at the salary cap,” Wright said, chuckling. “I know they’ve got to clear some space to make things happen. So they’ve got to get busy.”
Wright knows the Seahawks are barely under the NFL salary cap that is going down for only the second time in its 30 years of existence this offseason. The coronavirus pandemic and losses in league revenues from it in the 2020 season are dropping each team’s cap ceiling from $198.2 million last year to no lower than $180 million in 2021.
Assuming the league settles that floor at $180 million before free agency begins with the start of the new league year March 17, Seattle has $5 million in cap space. That’s according to overthecap.com.
Wright made it clear on Rome’s show Monday he still is motivated by how the league perceives him after 10 seasons, a Super Bowl title and one Pro Bowl selection, in 2016.
“Even with all the accolades and achievements I’ve made, I still haven’t felt the world had quite felt me yet,” Wright said. “I believe that, even this past year, I wasn’t nominated for the Pro Bowl. That pissed me off. That pissed me off.
“I look around, I haven’t even been nominated (as one of) the NFL’s top 100 players (in an annual survey put out by the league’s television network each summer). That pisses me off.
“So I’m still hungry. I’m still out to prove how good I am. I feel like my name isn’t quite respected as it needs to be.
“I’m about to start training next week and get back on it. Because I feel like I’ve got some much more to prove in this league.”
Wright began pronouncing his future in Seattle is up to what the Seahawks offer him on Jan. 10, locker-cleanout day the day after the playoff loss to the Rams.
“You know, that’s up to you know Pete and John,” Wright said of coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider. “They know how much I mean to this team. They know that I’m a baller. They know I’m a great teammate a great leader.”
Wright couldn’t be clearer if he hung a banner from the top of the Space Needle.
Last month, he even went third-person in his proclamation.
“It would be a great investment, in my opinion, if they invest in K.J., and to bring them back in the building,” Wright said Jan. 10.
“You get what you pay for. And I bring a lot to the table, still.
“So they’ve got to choose wisely.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 3:34 PM.
