Tom Wilson's big payday leaves Twitter dumbfounded
Tom Wilson got paid on Friday, and Twitter users can't wrap their heads around it.
The imposing, physical, reckless forward received a six-year contract with an average annual value of $5.17 million, in the same neighborhood as the deals for recent restricted free-agent signees Jason Zucker, Elias Lindholm, Tomas Hertl, and J.T. Miller.
Wilson is coming off a career-high 35-point campaign - a low total for a forward making north of $5 million per year for the next six seasons. Of course, Twitter is up in arms.
I figured Tom Wilson was going to bank. Four years, maybe as high as 3.5M per. I was so wrong. He actually robbed the bank.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) July 28, 2018
The universal opinion of the thousands of people I follow is that that Tom Wilson contract is atrocious and guess what! you're all right!
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) July 28, 2018
Has a forward who has never had a 40-point season ever gotten $5-million AAV? I'm verklempt.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) July 28, 2018
That’s a lot of money and term for a guy who had career numbers this year with 35 points!! If you feel that you absolutely have to pay him $5M+ you can’t go more than 4 years. Or 6 years at $3.5M is tops for me. They gave him $10M to much either way in my opinion. https://t.co/hOrLsQBpah
— Martin Biron (@martybiron43) July 28, 2018
When you break from a quiet Friday to see how much Tom Wilson just got paid. pic.twitter.com/cO3DWKVlzc
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) July 28, 2018
I still can't figure out if it's dumber that the #Caps gave Tom Wilson SIX years or $5.1 million per. What in the world are they thinking?
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) July 28, 2018
The only thing missing from Tom Wilson's contract announcement is a projected buyout date.
— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) July 28, 2018
Some people couldn't help but poke fun at Wilson's style of play, which has led to frequent run-ins with the NHL Department of Player Safety.
Somehow, Tom Wilson’s worst hit ever is his cap hit https://t.co/fI1imdsiPm
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) July 28, 2018
The maximum allowable fine under the current CBA is $15k. That means that Tom Wilson can now afford 2068 of those bad boys over the next 6 years while still breaking even.
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) July 28, 2018
Tom Wilson coming in a bit high on the numbers?
— Chris Abraham (@CrzyCanucklehed) July 28, 2018
Why I never