The Seahawks are entertaining trade offers for DK Metcalf, but it’s possible the star receiver plays out the final year of his contract in Seattle in 2025, general manager John Schneider said Thursday afternoon.
“We’re talking to a ton of teams, taking offers, seeing what that looks like,” Schneider said on his weekly KIRO-AM radio show, a day after news of Metcalf’s trade request emerged.
Schneider said Seattle’s priority is “doing what’s absolutely best for the organization” and then the team will consider what is best for Metcalf.
“Hopefully both those things merge and it’s an ideal situation,” he added. “Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. Hopefully in this situation it does, and that would be great. But worst-case scenario, we have an amazing, explosive, powerful athlete playing receiver for us again in 2025. So, we’ll see where this goes.”
Schneider’s discussions with teams interested in trading for Metcalf was first reported by Corbin Smith of the Emerald City Spectrum.
The Seahawks are seeking a first- and third-round pick in exchange for the 27-year-old Metcalf, ’s Dianna Russini reported Thursday, and Metcalf is eyeing a new contract worth around $30 million per year. Metcalf has a $31.9 million cap hit — highest among NFL wideouts — in 2025, the final year of a three-year, $72 million contract.
The NFL Draft, which begins April 24, is the Seahawks’ deadline for getting a deal done, Schneider said.
Asked about the receiver potentially being disgruntled if a trade is not completed, Schneider described Metcalf as a “very good communicator” who “understands the business.”
He added: “He understands we’re going to head down this road, we’re going to do the best thing we can for the organization, and if things don’t fall the way he wants, there’s a good chance he could end up being here. And at that point, we all turn the corner and move forward. Through this whole process, he’s been extremely professional and respectful.”
The news of Metcalf’s trade request leaked Wednesday afternoon, shortly after Seattle released receiver Tyler Lockett as a cap-saving measure. The team purposely released its longest-tenured player one day after its four other cap-related cuts to highlight what he has meant to the Seahawks in the last decade. Schneider said Thursday that the timing of the Metcalf news was “probably not intentional” but he was still “very disappointed” that it overshadowed Lockett’s release.
“We wanted this to be a very special day,” Schneider said. “We wanted it to be Tyler Lockett Day.”
Seattle’s decision to handle Lockett’s release in a “classy” manner was spurred by not operating that way in the past when other franchise icons were released in the name of finances. In March 2022, Bobby Wagner called out the organization for not informing him of their plans to move on from him. Wagner, who acts as his own agent, found out from another source before his release.
“We all were very excited to have this really nice day for Tyler to celebrate Tyler,” Schneider said. “I felt bad for Tyler. The TV was all about DK instead of Tyler Lockett.”
As for whether Lockett could return to Seattle on a new contract, Schneider said he told the receiver what he typically tells players who were released for cap purposes: “Go out and see what’s shaking (on the market), and we’ll stay in touch.”
Schneider said he expects Lockett to draw significant interest because he’s a leader and “still a productive player.”
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