Is it too soon for Seahawks to extend DK Metcalf?
Why the Seahawks may be best served to extend DK Metcalf now rather than waiting until 2025 or trading him: Seaside Joe 1923
This season, the Seattle Seahawks are set to spend $54.6 million of their 2024 cap space on the wide receiver position, which is the most of any team in the NFL. That makes receiver the most-expensive position on the Seahawks without a close second:
Seattle allocated $44.4 million to the defensive line, followed by $27.4 million to quarterbacks (really, one quarterback), $26.5 million to the offensive line, and $19.4 million to edge rushers.
The San Francisco 49ers spent the second-most on receivers ($53.7 million), but they still spend more on their offensive line ($57 million) and the Niners are still spending more on their defense than Seattle, $126.5 million to $116.6 million. The Miami Dolphins have paid both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and even they spend less on the receiver position than the Seahawks do; I know Waddle was only recently extended, but even next year the Seahawks’ $68.4 million to receivers is $5 million more than the second-place Raiders and over $9 million more than third-place Miami.
Regardless of how much respect you have for Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, it wouldn’t be easy to guess that Seattle values their receiver room more than any other team in the NFL values their receiver room.
With the Seahawks expenditures on the defensive line ballooning to $60 million and Geno Smith getting an expensive raise if he’s still on the team in 2025, the question then becomes, “How much longer will Seattle spend this much money on their receivers?”
As well as, “How much longer should the Seahawks wait to make a decision on the future of DK Metcalf?”
Would it be wiser for the Seahawks to extend DK now, since he’s not going to get any cheaper after the Minnesota Vikings made Justin Jefferson the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL this week by giving him a raise to $35 million per year, to wait until 2025, or for John Schneider to ponder DK’s trade market? And I know that this will be a controversial opinion to share, but that’s only IF DK Metcalf has a trade market.
Not only did Jefferson’s contract make DK Metcalf harder to re-sign, it also makes him less valuable on the trade market.
I’ll explain.