Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf has been a subject of trade rumors for years now, yet none of those rumors have ever come to fruition.
With the offseason now in full swing, though, some around the league believe that could change.
ESPN recently released an article with offseason predictions from various coaches and executives around the NFL, and most notably, one coach believes the Seahawks will trade Metcalf to the Los Angeles Chargers, finally bringing the trade rumors to fruition.
"The Seahawks can still get good value for him, and he could pair with Ladd McConkey for a good inside-out tandem," an NFL coordinator told ESPN. "[Justin] Herbert to Metcalf would be scary. I think [Los Angeles] will be looking to help the quarterback in a big way."
This time at least, the trade speculation hinges on Metcalf's contract situation. The 27-year-old is entering the final year of his current deal, and an extension could cost Seattle $30 million per year or more, which looks quite difficult to manage with its current cap situation.
With Jaxon Smith-Njigba breaking out this season, there seems to be a belief that the Seahawks could opt to move on from Metcalf and save themselves some valuable cap space.
On the other side of the coin, the Chargers desperately need more weapons around their star quarterback in Herbert.
Second-round pick Ladd McConkey had a great rookie season, but they have virtually no other weapons to speak of. To illustrate that point, McConkey had nine receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown in the Chargers' loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round, while every other player had five receptions for 45 yards combined.
Now of course, it's by no means a certainty that the Seahawks will trade Metcalf this offseason. He's still a very good receiver, and after 10 wins this season, they could easily opt to keep him as they look to return to the playoffs.
However, if they can't stomach the price tag of Metcalf's next extension, exploring trade options would make sense.
