Seahawks veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett might be on the move in the coming weeks.
Change is in the air for the Seattle Seahawks, at least on one side of the ball. They have a new offensive coordinator coming in, their interior offensive line could get completely turned over and their wide receiver room might see a couple of big changes, as well.
While it remains a remote scenario that star wide receiver DK Metcalf will get traded to another team, the same does not apply to long-time veteran Tyler Lockett. Entering his 11th season in the NFL, Lockett is nearing the end of his run as a pro, and his game has gone into sharp decline over the last couple of seasons.
That plus the structure of Lockett's contract make him a good candidate to get traded - if there's a market for him. According to Bleacher Report, there are at least two teams that should be interested: Pete Carroll's Las Vegas Raiders and Brian Schottenheimer's Dallas Cowboys.
B/R on Tyler Lockett trade suitors
"This could make Lockett a very attractive target for the Cowboys. Dallas is short on cap space but needs to find a dependable No. 2 receiver to pair with Lamb. Lockett’s $10 million base salary isn’t egregious, and acquiring him shouldn’t dramatically impact the Cowboys’ draft capital... The Las Vegas Raiders could also be interested in Lockett. New head coach Pete Carroll coached the wideout for the bulk of his NFL career, and the Raiders could use another talented pass-catcher to partner with Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker and Brock Bowers."
Dealing Lockett makes sense for the Seahawks, who have a strong 1-2 punch at this spot in Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a quality number four option in Jake Bobo. Trading Lockett would also save the team $17 million in cap room - which would be just enough to get them back in the black and under the cap in effective cap space.
As for which suitor makes more sense, the Raiders definitely need receiver help more, as they traded their number one wide receiver Davante Adams to the Jets. However, the Cowboys have a long habit of overpaying for their assets - they inexplicably sent a fourth-round pick to the Panthers for Jonathan Mingo at the trade deadline.
Dallas' history makes them a better potential trade partner for Seattle, but no matter who they deal with it's hard to see them getting more than a fifth or sixth-round pick for Lockett, who is nowhere near the athlete he was in his prime.
Once Lockett is out of the way - either via trade or getting cut for cap savings, the Seahawks should look to find his replacement in the 2025 NFL draft class. The best receiver prospect who could replace what Lockett brought to the table is Missouri's Luther Burden, but it's a long shot that he'll still be on the board at 18. Isaiah Bond from Texas and Tez Johnson from Oregon are other options that should be available in the later rounds.
