DK Metcalf officially requests trade from Seahawks

Metcalf, 27, has been the subject of countless trade rumors over the past several years, with them esepecially heating up during last week's NFL Scouting Combine. Now, it seems that the Seahawks are finally letting him seek other opportunities.

In some ways, though, this news still comes as a shock. Not only were some insiders adamant that the Seahawks wouldn't be trading, as recently as Monday in fact, but even the team's brass made it seem like they had big plans for him going forward.

"It’s that trend of focus we’ve got on the offense that we’re shooting for, and then to Jaxon [Smith-Njigba]'s credit — and DK not being 100 percent in the second, third quarter of the season — it speaks to Jaxon’s development," head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters at the combine. But we want to get the ball to DK, we want to make sure that he’s a focal point of our offense for sure.”

A 2019 second-round pick out of Ole Miss, Metcalf has been remarkably consistent over his time in Seattle, recording at least 900 receiving yards in each of his six NFL seasons. His best season came in 2020, when he had 83 receptions for a career-best 1,303 yards and 10 touchdowns to earn second-team All-Pro honors.

As is usually the case, though, the salary cap significantly complicates matters. Metcalf is in the final year of his contract and could command more than $30 million per year on a new extension, and that's a lot of money for the Seahawks to commit to a receiver who can be hot and cold. Even without their cap problems, they may not want to give him that kind of money for several years to come.

Metcalf's six-year run in Seattle has been a fruitful one, so to see it (probably) come to an end like this is a bit sad. Alas, the NFL is a cruel business.