AP

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson got $31.7 million fully guaranteed at signing in the new contract he signed before the start of training camp last week, which is both a lot of money and short of making him the highest-paid player in the game.

There was talk that Wilson wanted to be in that spot when he signed an extension in Seattle, but it obviously wasn’t something that had to happen in order for Wilson to put his name on the dotted line. Wilson explained why it wasn’t important to jump to the top of the list during a Thursday appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.

“No. The only thing that was important was being in Seattle,” Wilson said. “In terms of being paid, however I played that’s what I wanted to dictate my pay raise. Ultimately, I love this city, I love this team, I love the players on this team and the bond we have.”

Wilson also discussed the size of his contract — total value of 87.6 million over four years in addition to the $1.5 million-plus he’ll make this year — in relation to his individual stats, which pale in comparison to many of his peers around the league. Wilson said that anyone who thinks playing quarterback “is about a whole bunch of other things and not about who wins on Sunday” is defining the position the wrong way. The Seahawks appear to agree with Wilson and he should be looking at an even bigger deal in a few years if he keeps winning at the rate he has over his first three.