A DK Metcalf trade from the Seattle Seahawks seems like an inevitability. The team already made the decision to invest four years and $69 million in his wideout wingman Tyler Lockett. This makes the three-year veteran a far more valuable trade chip with just under $4 million left in the final year of his contract.
This offseason has seen the Seahawks go through a major facelift. Out are franchise quarterback Russell Wilson, and long-time defensive anchors Bobby Wagner and Carlos Dunlap. In return, the team got a boatload of draft picks, extra cash, and long-term hopes. While head coach Pete Carroll has said all the right things lately about holding on to both Lockett and Metcalf. He also claimed the organization had no intention of trading Wilson too until they did.
Why the New York Jets are a logical DK Metcalf trade partner
Just like the decision to move Wilson became too sensible to pass on, sooner or later the Seahawks brass will come to realize they can help the team long-term with a DK Metcalf trade. For a player that was in the Pro Bowl in 2020, had 12 touchdowns, and was 33 yards short of a second 1,000 yard season, there will certainly be many suitors for his talents. However, the team that may have the best chance of landing him, and giving Metcalf a long-term deal is the New York Jets.
In a Wednesday editorial on Pro Football Talk, NFL inside Mike Florio speculated on the idea and made the case for why the trade between the Seahawks and Jets makes a great deal of sense.
“[The Jets] tried to land receiver Tyreek Hill from the Chiefs, so they’re ready to make this kind of move. Jets GM Joe Douglas made it clear this week that his team generally is and will be ready to swoop in, if/when an opportunity arises,” Florio explained.
“It makes sense, then, for two teams that did business on the Jamal Adams trade to do something for Metcalf. The roles have been reversed, however. In 2020, the Seahawks gave up a pair of first-round picks for Adams,” he added. “Now, Seattle would be the team tearing it down in the hopes of building it up, while the Jets are trying to escape the trio of AFC teams that can be called clear non-contenders in 2022.”
Metcalf joining the Jets and giving them a legitimate WR1, and an actual threat in the pass game for Zach Wilson is almost a no-brainer. But how would a trade for the 24-year-old wideout look?
What would the Jets need to give up to land DK Metcalf
Three notable wide receivers have been traded during this offseason, and all of them landed their former teams very different returns. The Green Bay Packers received a first and second-round pick in April’s draft from the Las Vegas Raiders for their resident passing-catching superstar Davante Adams. The Kansas City Chiefs landed five picks when they traded uber-elite WR Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. Three of those being an extra first, second, and fourth-round pick next month.
Both of those players are the cream of the WR crop. A good but not as good player in Amari Cooper fetched the Dallas Cowboys a fifth-round pick from the Cleveland Browns. Metcalf is likely to cost a little more than Cooper since the Cowboys veteran came with three more seasons left on a five-year, $100 million contract.
- DK Metcalf stats (2021): 967 receiving yards, 75 catches, 12 TDs
In the 2022 draft, the Jets have two picks each in the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth rounds. Since Metcalf’s current contract will only cost the Jets a cap hit of a little over $4 million they will likely need to give up a fifth-round pick this year, and a fifth-round next year. Another option would be to offer up one of their extra third picks in April to add a man that could be an offensive star in New York for years to come.
Assuming they use the nearly $17 million in cap space they have to re-sign him.