The Seattle Seahawks have broken their silence and made their intent to extend star receiver DK Metcalf public.
“That’s our intent,” said general manager John Schneider Tuesday morning when asked if the team planned on retaining Metcalf. This statement was nearly identical to the sentiments expressed by head coach Pete Carroll earlier in the day.
“We intend for him to be with us,” Carroll said. “We’d love to figure that out. We’re in a normal kind of mode this time of the year. We’re not to that topic yet specifically because we’ve got so many other things going on. But we’d love to have him. There’s no way I could imagine playing without him.”
DK Metcalf’s future in Seattle
DK Metcalf put the football world on notice as a post-collegiate athlete during the 2019 NFL combine, where a machine (inaccurately) read that he had less than 2% body fat. Pictures of the receivers’ extraordinary physique circulated the internet, and he posted tremendous numbers in the 40-yard dash, bench press, and vertical leap.
The Ole Miss product was selected 64th overall in the draft and went on to catch seven touchdowns and 900 yards as a rookie. After three years in the Pacific Northwest, he has totaled 3,170 yards and 29 touchdowns, setting a career-high of 12 last season.
The 6-foot-4 pass-catcher is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is due to make a hefty salary on the open market, especially after Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill signed record-setting deals during the offseason. However, whether or not Seattle is even in a position to extend its star wideout is in question.
Schneider ruffled some feathers last week when he relayed a “sense of shock” at the new receiver market, topped by Hill’s four-year, $120 million deal.
“It is what it is now, right?” Schneider said Tuesday. “This is the market. So we’ll get to that when we get to it. But yeah there is a bit of, ‘whoa,’ but then you have to figure out: OK, well, where’s the cap going? What’s it going to look like? How do you build your team? We do that every day, we’re constantly moving stuff around.”
Seattle is already paying Tyler Lockett for a four-year, $69 million deal, so signing Metcalf would put extreme strain on their books.
Past and present changes
Seattle stole the headlines earlier this month by trading All-Pro quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos for Drew Lock, Shelby Harris, Noah Fant, and an assortment of draft picks. This was seen as a transition to a rebuilding era as the team had become almost totally reliant on their star QB and had not properly surrounded him with enough supporting talent.
The 2014 Super Bowl champions are also letting go of future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner, who is rumored to be favoring the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Ravens. This is another indication that the ‘Hawks are trying to enter a new era— but whether Metcalf wants to be a part of that future is an entirely different prospect.
The Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs have been reported to be interested in acquiring Metcalf via trade, which would make sense for both sides. After all, why would a team in a rebuilding phase want to devote a significant chunk of its cap to a wide receiver, a dependent position?
Both Green Bay and Kansas City will also be likely to part with their upcoming draft picks since they are in “win now” mode and are looking to acquire capable veterans, not promising youngsters. Seattle would acquire more assets and save money, while the two Super Bowl contenders could fill the vacancies left by Adams and Hill.
Fans of the Seahawks can take solace in the fact that Metcalf was optimistic a deal would get done when the season ended, although that was before Wilson was traded and the receiver market exploded. He is set to make $3.99 million next year.
