On Wednesday morning, right around the same time the team released veteran figurehead wide receiver Tyler Lockett, the murky situation between the Seattle Seahawks and their homegrown superstar wide receiver DK Metcalf came to a crystal-clear fulcrum: Metcalf has officially requested a trade from the team. Rumors are already swirling.
Two-time Pro Bowl WR DK Metcalf has requested a trade and the #Seahawks have agreed to explore options, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
Days before free agency, the 27-year-old Metcalf immediately becomes the top receiver available. pic.twitter.com/DBsoZwGguL— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 5, 2025
While Metcalf has been one of the most electric offensive Seahawks weapons since the Marshawn Lynch days, he had a bit of a down year in 2024: 66 receptions for 992 yards with five touchdowns in 15 games played. His legacy will be a complicated one. He’s had injuries (among them: foot injury, knee strain, and muscle pull) that have forced him to miss practice (and some regulation) time the past few years. He’s been animatedly dissatisfied with quarterback Geno Smith and various members of the offensive coaching staff. His passion for the game and desire for volume can sometimes translate to unnecessary roughness penalties on the field.
Wherever he goes next, he’ll be in his age-27 season for most of 2025; he doesn’t turn 28 until mid-December. This is a field-stretching freak athlete of a wide receiver who wants to go win now.
Let’s take a look at three potential landing spots for Metcalf, should the team trade him.
Top three trade destinations for DK Metcalf
Las Vegas Raiders
We begin, of course, with the inevitable link between Pete Carroll and DK Metcalf, seeing as Carroll was the head coach for the Seahawks when Seattle drafted him six years ago. Carroll, to the tune of many trumpets, is now back in the NFL and helming the Las Vegas Raiders, who lack a clear-cut WR1, and have since Davante Adams jetted to New York last year.
Seattle’s asking price for Metcalf is going to be high (see Packers below), and I’m curious how this front office is making decisions. Like, is it all Tom Brady? To what degree are we looking at a team that’s willing to give up future capital for an offensive weapon with a win-now mindset? Can Brady, Carroll & co. pitch him on a tight rebuild in a new era for the Raiders?
The Raiders are in the market for a wide receiver after trading star Davante Adams and opting not to re-sign DJ Turner. With a thin depth chart led by Jakobi Meyers and a lack of a true No. 1 target, the team is looking to add firepower to boost its offense for the upcoming season.
Jakobi Meyers and Tre Mason are best used as WR2/3s, and Brock Bowers is enough of a receiving force that Metcalf might not need to always contend with the secondary coverage he faced opposite Tyler Lockett in Seattle. The appeal is partially there. The quarterback, however, is not. Yet.
Green Bay Packers
Things move fast in the wide receiver free agency circuit; it was just yesterday (on the same day he was released) when folks were convinced a Davante Adams reunion in Titletown might be imminent. Now, it seems there’s more momentum ferrying the rumors that Adams plans to take his talents to the west coast (looking at you, Los Angeles Chargers). Which immediately reopens the alpha wide receiver vacuum in Green Bay they’ve tried-and-failed to patchwork for Jordan Love the past two seasons.
The Packers could—should—be on the hunt for a wide receiver after an up-and-down 2024 season. Jayden Reed led the team with 857 yards and six touchdowns, but injuries—like Christian Watson’s ACL tear late in the year—left the offense thin when it mattered most. With young players like Dontayvion Wicks and Malik Heath showing flashes but combining for just 512 yards, one thing’s become clear: Romeo Doubs is not your WR1.
DK Metcalf, however, would be the immediate WR1 in this offense, and would free up Reed to lean into the hybrid role at which he’s excelled in his time as a Packer. Having Romeo Doubs as your WR3 would be a fantastic, top-heavy depth chart.
The Packers are looking for a difference-maker in free agency, and Metcalf is only 27 years old. There’s plenty of risk, but there’s ridiculous upside. A DK Metcalf Lambeau Leap would sure look good. With the tint on his visor? All those cheeseheads around him? Sheesh.
These two teams have already been linked in talks for Metcalf, but with nothing headed in constructive directions just yet, apparently. According to Packers insiders, Seattle’s asking price was too high.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Commanders are out now that they have Deebo; the New Orleans Saints have no quarterback; the New England Patriots have a quarterback but no roster; the Buffalo Bills seem to be better without an alpha wide receiver, but are they really?—these are the other destinations I had in mind for Metcalf. But I’d be lying if I didn’t include the Bolts on here, which I wouldn’t only if I were giving too much credence to the Adams rumors.
The Chargers drafted Quentin Johnston out of Boston University in 2023 hoping he’d develop into their vertical threat wide receiver. His rookie season was unwatchable, but his sophomore campaign under the new Harbaugh regime was somewhat promising. Not so much, though, that the Chargers shouldn’t at least peek their head into any room in which a DK Metcalf trade negotiation is happening.
Something about Herbert’s erratic-but-stratospheric arm talent feels oddly poignant with the sort of receiver Metcalf is. Visions of Metcalf somehow bringing down a what-would-be-Herbert-overthrow into a circus catch that lights up the crowd in Los Angeles—electric blue everywhere—are undeniably appealing. And the Chargers could use him atop a group of wide receivers whose most productive last year, Ladd McConkey, doesn’t even clear 6’0″.
The only question would be whether or not the Chargers would pony up the asking price Seattle has in mind, which is, evidently, quite astronomic.
