Seahawks, take care of Russell - now

Panic.

Terror.

The kind of fright that makes you go poo on your way to work.

That is pretty much what’s happening around the Seahawk Nation, just even thinking of Russell Wilson’s deadline.

The Seattle quarterback, who will be 31 in November but seems to get better with age — 35 TD passes and just seven interceptions in 2018 — has told Seahawks management he wants a contract extension in place by April 15.

No, not to pay his taxes.

Although, that’s kind of what happened to soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who wound up owing the Spanish government about a trillion euros, then cut a plea deal and moved to Juventus in Italy’s Serie A.

But nope…

In this case, April 15 happens to be when the Seahawks begin official team activities in advance of this coming season.

And this also happens to mark the end of a four-year deal Wilson signed on the eve of training camp in 2015.

In other words, he could become a free agent after 2019.

WILSON HAS said he doesn’t want his contract to become a distraction throughout the coming season.

So the stance he’s adopted with his agent, Mark Rodgers, is that the deadline is real and if nothing can be worked out by then, well…

Wilson would not hold out, but simply play through the season and earn a puny $17 million as his 2015 extension winds down.

Wilson’s compensation during that deal was $21.9 million per year, second-highest in the league to Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay at $22 million.

The NFL keeps on inhaling more revenue, however, so salaries keep rising along with each club’s salary cap.

Rodgers recently signed an extension worth $33.5 million per year, so naturally Wilson is seeking something in that ballpark — and elite quarterbacks aren’t just critical in the NFL.

They ARE the difference between success and failure.

Wilson, however, has made it clear he won’t sit on his hands or cry in a corner if nothing happens by April 15.

He’s said he’ll play without a new contract.

“Oh, yeah, if that’s what I’ve got to do,’’ Wilson said after the 2018 season ended. “It’s business and everything else and I know essentially after this season I could potentially be a free agent, that kind of thing.

“I don’t think that way — I see myself being in Seattle. I love Seattle, (it’s a) special place for me.

“I also understand it’s a business world and everything else.”

BY THE way, the term “free agent” in the case of a player like Wilson is a slight misnomer.

The Seahawks could hit their QB with a franchise tag next year and force him to play for a paltry $30.6 million in 2020, and even do it again in 2021 with a salary of roughly $36 million.

In fact, unless there are major changes to the new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and its players union, the Seahawks actually could “tag” Wilson again in 2022 — for the low, low price of $52.43 million.

Not sure if a set of steak knives come with that package, but obviously that one is totally unrealistic.

What can happen if there’s an impasse? The Hawks used this year’s franchise tag on supreme pass rusher Frank Clark, though he has yet to sign it.

As for how these issues — and various salary cap considerations — all play out, you’re asking the wrong guy.

Only highly paid savants who sit in basements with Coke bottle glasses and several computers actually understand it all.

Wait, you’re thinking…

If Wilson would go ahead and play even if the deadline passes with no deal, why is everyone so frightened?

It’s simple.

No team wants its star quarterback — the face of the franchise — to be unhappy with how he perceives his treatment (and is therefore asked about it by media hordes every day).

BASICALLY, IT’S common sense that everyone wants to get this thing with Wilson resolved.

We can’t have Russell needing to refinance his house.

Of course, there are plenty of sub-plots involved. Such things come with the territory when negotiating massive contracts.

We’ve already addressed the Clark situation (Frank actually might force a trade), but the Seahawks also are facing the exact same “Wilson scenario” with middle linebacker Bobby Wagner — their unquestioned leader on the other side of the ball.

Oh, and outstanding defensive lineman Jarran Reed falls into that category, as well.

Finally, lest the idea might cross your mind to unload all these expensive characters and rebuild from the ground up…

The potential of a Wilson trade to New York has been floating around, but remember that Pete Carroll just signed an $11 million yearly extension that takes him to 2021.

Pete will be just short of 70 by then and has said pretty firmly that this is his last contract.

The notion of Carroll coaching a bunch of kids into relevancy and then walking away is almost laughable.

He’ll want a Super Bowl contender right to the end.

If nothing happens with the Wilson deal by early next week, maybe we’ll discuss trade options — which actually have started with his wife.

But right this minute, the Seahawks are thrashing out numbers with Wilson’s people to avoid all such hideous possibilities.

Not to mention ensuring that all you Seahawk junkies aren’t going poo in rush-hour traffic.

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.

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Twitter: @BrandNewDayCDA

Email: scameron@cdapress.com