The Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson's mild contract negotiation saga has finally come to an end and as expected, the conclusion leaves Wilson as the new highest paid quarterback/NFL player in the history of the game.

With Wilson reportedly setting an April 15 deadline for the negotiations on a new contract to take place, he forced the Seahawks into action and secured a deal worth $140 million over four extra years with a $65 million signing bonus, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The deal means Wilson won't be a free agent until after the 2023 season, as it adds four more years to what was the final year of his deal this season.

And Wednesday afternoon, Wilson made it official by signing his new contract.

“For me, for my family and for (agent) Mark (Rodgers), we love Seattle, and it’s the place I want to be,” Wilson told Seahawks.com after signing the contract. “I’ve always wanted to be here. When I first got drafted in 2012, I wanted to be here forever. This helps solidify that. I’ve got many more years to go and a lot more winning to do—we’ve got more Super Bowls to win. I’m excited about that.”

Following in the footsteps of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Wilson now ascends to the highest paid player in the sport until the next elite quarterback comes up for a new contract at least. In addition to that, Wilson breaks the marks set by Rodgers in terms of annual salary and signing bonus. Rodgers makes $33.5 million per year and netted a $57.5 million signing bonus. Wilson will make $35 million per season. Finally, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, Wilson's contract will take a traditional structure, meaning he will not have escalators in his contract tied to the salary cap rising; although it'll be interesting to see if Wilson was able to get the second and third year of his deal guaranteed, which was reported to be a sticking point.

But who won that battle?

In any event, Wilson knocks over the first domino, which allows the three defenders behind him to now potentially get paid.

The Seahawks will still be looking to extend defensive end Frank Clark, middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and defensive tackle Jarran Reed who will also enter the final years of their deals in 2019, as Wilson was set to do before a new deal was reached. One caveat being Clark trade rumors have begun to swirl. Of the three, he is the only player with immediate urgency due to his actual deadline of July 15. If the Seahawks don't extend Clark by then, they'll no longer be able to negotiate a multi-year deal with him and will have to wait until after the regular season to resume talks.

Now, the Seahawks can shift their focus to the NFL Draft later in April and extending those three players in May and beyond.

For Wilson, it's a contract seven years in the making. Coming off his rookie deal, Wilson signed a four-year extension worth $87.6 million with $31 million signing bonus and $31.7 million in guaranteed money. After ballooning his 2015 cap hit up to $7 million, Wilson spent the remaining four years as the team's unquestioned highest paid player but with the cap continually escalating, his deal actually became a somewhat bargain over time.

With Rodgers continuing the trend of escalating the quarterback market in 2018 by signing a four-year extension worth $138 million along with a $57.5 million signing bonus and nearly $100 million in guaranteed money, it was evident that Wilson who is much younger and has similar credentials would get a contract worth more than that.

At $33.5 million per season for Rodgers, it meant Wilson would be looking at north of $35 million to get a deal done. From the initial looks of the deal, he appears to have done just that.

Even with the potential to franchise tag their star quarterback looming over the negotiations, the Seahawks saw fit to acquiesce to Wilson's demands and work a new deal out immediately instead of letting this situation linger and fester.

Since coming into the league, Wilson has constantly set wins records. He holds the record for most wins by any NFL quarterback through seven seasons and most wins by a quarterback in Seahawks history. In addition to that, Wilson has put up back-to-back MVP-type seasons and only missed the playoffs once while making two Super Bowls and bringing the city their first Super Bowl title in 2014. Adding to all of that, he's never missed a game since coming into the league.

With the Seahawks refreshing their franchise, keeping their cornerstone player in place was a must and they were always likely to do whatever it took to get the job done.

Now, they've done that and can move onto other offseason concerns.