Russell Wilson is a popular guy, amongst fans and companies looking for a pro athlete to endorse their product. He’s having remarkable success on the field, and financially – despite the fact his contract with the Seahawks will pay him a mere $817,302 this season. That’s because, according to an article published today by Lindsay Jones of USA Today, Wilson is quickly climbing the NFL endorsement-deal ranks, putting himself in position to be, as Jones says, “the new face of the NFL.”

While some of Wilson’s commercials can be seriously grating – Stop whispering to me about my dreams and home insurance, Russell! It’s creepy! – there’s no discounting the third-year quarterback’s burgeoning endorsement prowess. With a Super Bowl win under his belt and a million-dollar smile, Wilson has inked endorsement deals with Alaska Airlines, Bose, Microsoft, Braun and American Family Insurance, to say nothing of his local car dealership deal. And barring an unforeseen drugs and hookers scandal, it’s probably just the start.

“The fact that the senior statesmen of the NFL, in terms of Drew Brees and Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, they might be heading into the twilight of their careers, so it’s opening up an opportunity for a player like Wilson to fill that void,” David Carter, the executive director of the University of Southern California Sports Business Institute, tells USA Today. “Everything seems to be in his favor right now.”

Especially at the bank. According to Bob Dorfman, the executive creative director of Baker St. Advertising in San Francisco who’s quoted in the USA Today piece, Wilson’s endorsement earnings this year are likely to be in “the $5 million to $7 million range” – a total that would put Seattle’s signal caller behind only the likes of Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. “I’d put him in the top five, and climbing,” Dorfman says.

Oh, and according to Dorfman – and a particularly gross quote he offered to USA Today- that divorce Wilson went through might actually help his bottom line.

“The other big thing about him — only negative thing about him personally is the divorce; and who knows, that might end up helping him, (he) becomes more of a sex symbol, if it makes him more attractive because he’s available,” Dorfan offers. “He’s big on God and seems to be clean living and all of that, and right now, that is so important.”