Seahawks Have Tough Decision to Make With Star WR Metcalf

There is no doubt that this past season was full of questions for the Seattle Seahawks to address this offseason.

One in particular was even subtly raised by sixth-year wide receiver DK Metcalf during the Seahawks' Oct. 10 game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Is Metcalf's return worth the $31.8 million he's scheduled to count against the salary cap next season?

Although the former 2019 second-round pick out of Ole Miss worded his question differently in the 36-24 loss in Week 6 to the Niners, appearing to ask fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb if he could call a pass play beyond 10 yards, throwing in a profane word to make sure his point got across.

Metcalf ended up with a team-high 11 targets in the 12-point defeat, but had just 3 catches for 48 yards, 30 of which came on one play.

As it turned out it would be the last double digit target game for the 6-foot-4, 235-pound receiver in 2024.

Over the final nine games of the season Metcalf reach 9 targets twice, against the Niners and New York Jets, averaging under four catches per game as the team went 7-2 to close out coach Mike Macdonald's first season.

After catching 3 passes for 53 yards and 1 touchdown in the regular season finale against the Los Angeles Rams he joined NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss as the only two players in history to have at least 50 catches, 900 yards and 5 touchdowns in their first six seasons in the league, an accomplishment that can't go unstated.

However, with Macdonald determined to have more of a run-dominant offense than the pass-heavy offense Seattle fielded under Grubb, that doesn't correlate and certainly not at the price tag he's currently on.

The catch is Metcalf has a $21 million dead cap hit next season, which means if general manager John Schneider does make him available this offseason for a trade - ideally to address the offensive line either with a player swap or adding draft capital to get a premium lineman in the 2025 NFL Draft - the value coming back in return to Seattle has to be adequate.

Metcalf finished eight-yards shy of boasting his third consecutive 1,000-yard season, recording 992 yards, 66 receptions and a career-low 5 touchdowns over 15 games to compliment 2023 first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who led the Seahawks in all three categories this season.

While it might not be the preferred rout for Seattle or Metcalf to solve each of their respective problems, trading the veteran and getting needed trench help in return would go a long way for the Seahawks, and it would give the ex-Rebel a clear start elsewhere going into the final year of his contract.