Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks got perilously close to the edge of a contractual cliff this off-season, and the Seahawks began to seriously consider a football future without their 26-year-old, two-time Super Bowl quarterback. But today that all changed.

Seattle general manager John Schneider and Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, beat a 1 p.m. Eastern Time deadline—the official start time for the first training camp practice of Wilson’s fourth NFL season—by agreeing to a four-year, $87.6 million contract extension, making Wilson, for now, the second-highest-paid player in NFL history.

The deal includes a $31 million signing bonus and approximately $60 million in guarantees.

The previous biggest contract signed in the NFL was Aaron Rodgers’ five-year, $110 million deal in 2013. That contract became a major stumbling block in these talks, because it was signed 27 months ago, when the NFL salary cap was $123 million. Now, with the cap up 17% over the last two years (it is $143.8 million this year), Rodgers was insistent that the new contract wouldn’t be soon overtaken if Wilson was going to commit to the Seahawks long-term. With the cap likely increasing up to $10 million a year over the life of Wilson’s deal, Rodgers surely argued, Wilson’s deal had to be in Aaron Rodgers’ league. Turns out it was $100,000-per-year less.

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