Well, it happened.

The DK haters of the Seahawk fanbase can now enjoy DK playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Seattle traded DK to the Steelers for Pick 52 in the NFL Draft; a mere mid second round pick, and not exactly the haul I was expecting.

With that, now I think we can safely say that the major holdovers from the Pete Carroll area are now officially a thing of the past here in the 206. No more Tyler Lockett, no more Geno, and no more DK Metcalf. I think moving forward, Seattle’s number one job is to get Mike Macdonald guys, and have them be really good ones. It is that simple of a mandate.

Yesterday’s re-signings of Ernest Jones and Jarran Reed to three year deals are good moves towards making this a Mike Macdonald team, I believe. Jones was a mid season revelation at middle linebacker, and I think J Reed had one of his best seasons as a pro in 2024. These moves should absolutely be applauded. It is clear that Seattle is going to build this thing back into being a win with defense sort of identity that will hopefully be paired with a very complimentary offense, a la circa 2013.

Now, onto DK, sorta.

Acquiring Pick 52 in an NFL draft that appears historically deep at defensive tackle, deep at guard, tight end, and running back isn’t terrible. If you want to build your program into a tough meat and potatoes sorta thing, this is a draft to do it with.

Getting good interior offensive and defensive line play is paramount to becoming a quality, hard-nosed, physical football team. Tight ends become more valuable as blockers and receivers, and depth at running back is critical. With Pick 52, Seattle now has five picks in the top 100 of a draft where some estimate that there are 24 legitimate starting NFL defensive tackles in it.

In the long run, Seattle is going to become more badass in the trenches because of this trade. They made a decent start of it on defense last year, now they need to round it out on offense.

How many years has it been where fans have bemoaned the Seattle front office for spending too many resources at skill positions and not enough in the trenches? I feel like this has been an annual theme for at least eight years now, if not more. Now, it looks like they are about to make this much needed shift in philosophy. Sweet.

A mid second round pick is not what I wanted for DK Metcalf, nor is it what I expected them to acquire. When news broke about him requesting a trade, I immediately wrote a long piece in which I threw out several trade scenarios based on reports of various teams being reportedly interested in him. Most of these scenarios involved either a pick and player in exchange, or two picks in exchange. I felt Seattle might have been positioned to maybe get a late first round pick and change for him, or an early second round pick and change.

I had lofty ideas about what Seattle could get for him based on his age, rare physical talents, and the fact that free agency and the draft doesn’t look particularly promising for the receiver position. While it feels like receivers are becoming more devalued lately, I thought DK might have been the rare exception.

Turns out that I was writing from an overly optimistic Seahawk fan perspective, and not someone who is a deeply knowledgeable NFL insider. The league low balled Seattle, and I think the front office just wanted to get this deal done before free agency officially hits on Monday morning. This is how we ended up with the 52nd pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

So, what does this mean for Seattle moving forward?

According to the Spotrac website, the Seahawks have just over $68 cap space available for them to shop this week for a quarterback, a couple offensive linemen, and probably a receiver or two. If they do end up signing Sam Darnold to a decent seized contract, a lot of that will get eaten up, but if they go cheap at the position and look to the draft as a possibility at quarterback, and they would have the finances to be pretty splashy on the offensive line, and some other positions, as well.

My hunch is that they will make a very strong push for Darnold as many in the league are saying, but there will be competition from Pittsburgh (ironically) and probably both New York teams, as well. My only hope if that if they don’t lure Darnold to Seattle, they don’t seriously pivot towards Aaron Rodgers.

For me, Darnold makes reasonable sense, but Rodgers makes sense only if you want to piss off a large portion of your fanbase for the sake of trying to be competitive in 2025. This is why I am not taking the reports of Seattle being interested in Rodgers very seriously. He’s old, he will be expensive, and he is not likely any sort of culture fit. Let another team take him on.

If it isn’t Darnold, then I honestly don’t want to see them make a big splash at quarterback at all in free agency. I would rather see them take a cheap flyer on a vet who has some knowledge of the offense, and then look to this draft class with the hopes of landing Jaxson Dart.

If they do land Darnold on a multi year deal, then I think this changes the complexion of what this team can be in 2025. Then I think you try to get a quality starting guard and center in free agency, add a proven veteran receiver to compliment Jaxon Smith Njigba, and maybe another veteran pass rusher to the mix on defense. With five picks in the first three rounds of the NFL draft in April, you will be set up enough to just hit on best available talents when they land at your picks with little need to reach for needs.

This is why I hope that they are able to agree to turns with Darnold, if they want to compete in 2025. If they get Darnold, Seattle could still find themselves a sneaky competitive bunch in 2025, but they would still have a lot of work to do well beyond the QB room.

By trading DK and releasing Tyler, Seattle’s receiver from consists of rising star JSN, but then we are talking Jake Bobo who is probably a fourth or fifth receiver on many teams, Dareke Young who hasn’t amounted to anything in three years, and they have a guy named John Rhys Plumlee who was a small college quarterback in 2023 and found his way on the team’s practice squad at the end of last season as a converted receiver.

Seattle presently doesn’t have dick squat-ily doo doo at receiver behind JSN. They will need to be active in free agency this week adding probably a couple players. The options out there aren’t super enticing, either.

If the Rams release Cooper Kupp, I think things could get interesting for Seattle because of system fit, and the fact that he’s from Yakima. If they sign Sam Darnold, Kupp could suddenly find this a desirable destination with an opportunity to play against the Rams twice a year.

Outside of Kupp, I think we are looking at Stefon Diggs who is older and maybe isn’t a total Mike Macdonald sorta player, Chris Godwin who has injury concerns, Amari Cooper who is older with character concerns, Brandin Cooks who is older, Keenan Allen who is old and slowing down, and Nelson Agholor who has been around and is long in the tooth.

I don’t know if any of these guys are head and shoulders better than Tyler Lockett, to be honest, and maybe they walk Lockett back on a reduced price. Free agency this year if full of guys like this.

Honesty, by trading away DK, Seattle’s best bet to land impact opposite JSN this year might be the draft, but that might mean spending pick 18 to do it, and is that very desirable, especially if a really promising pass rusher is there?

While this is not thought to be a great receiver class, there are a few names to monitor for Seattle either in late round one, or round two. Here are a few worth mentioning.

Texas receiver Matthew Golden could be well worth pick 18 based on his electric speed, route running and hands. He’s a true playmaker, and while he’s not the biggest guy at 5-11 and 191 pounds, but he can take the top off of a defense, and he has highlight reel abilities to make circus catches. I think him paired with JSN would be a lot of fun for fans in Seattle for many years.

Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka is a Tacoma native and a big Seahawks fan. At 6-0, 200 pounds, he is very much in the JSN mold, and maybe too much so, but the Kubiak scheme values precision route running, sure hands, and run after catch quicks and he has those. If he is sitting in the mid second round, he could be an interesting name to watch for Seattle.

A player who is gaining a lot of positive buzz is Iowa State receiver Jaylin Noel who is built very similarly to Golden, had a strong Senior Bowl week and a strong combine. Brandin Cooks has had a lot of success playing in this sort of system and Noel sort fits his mold.

TCU receiver Jack Bech brings high character traits, toughness, grit, good size to factor against contested throws, strong hands, great route running, and while he’s not a speed demon, he has so many positive receiver skills where I think he could function really well in a Shanahan/Kubiak scheme like Seattle will be running. Seattle specifically targets high character traits these days, and I would put him high on the list of guys who could fit this culture here really well. He’s a guy who I could see Seattle really liking a lot.

With this trade now concluded, and Seattle being scary thin at receiver, presently, I feel like the likelihood one of these guys mentioned being a Seattle Seahawk in 2025 is fairly likely. John Schneider has a very strong track record identifying good receivers in the draft, and I could see him being keen on all four of these guys. There are a few other guys I could mention, as well.

Assuming the sign Darnold, I think the optimum best case scenario this year might be to see Cooper Kupp come up here, if released by the Rams, maybe they sign one more vet on a cheaper contract to compete as the third receiver and add proven depth, and them Seattle drafts one of these guys in the first or second day of the draft. JSN, Cooper Kupp, and Matthew Golden, for example, has a very exciting ring to it.

In terms of DK Metcalf, I honestly don’t know how much I will wish him well. He was one of my favorite players here, but I sorta feel about him somewhat sorta similarly to how I felt when Russell Wilson was traded. I sorta feel unceremonious about him right now, and maybe even a little bit like I will be rooting against him in Pittsburgh moving forward.

This is what diva energy brings. If you walk that walk, be prepared for folks to ultimately say “don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

I won’t feel that way about Geno Smith in Vegas, even though he wanted out, and I certainly won’t feel that way about Tyler Lockett, should he end up elsewhere. Geno and Tyler were very easy fellas to root for as a fan. DK, on the other hand, was both incredibly exciting at times, and equally frustrating in other instances with how his could lose his head in games.

5 years and $150 million dollars is not a price I would pay to keep DK Metcalf in Seattle. I don’t think there is a receiver in this league who I would pay that price for. I am grateful that John Schneider did not cave to that price. Let Pittsburgh figure it out for themselves if that was the right price to pay a good not great wide receiver who is both dynamic with his traits as he is problematic with his mentals.

For me, I am ready to move on, and I am excited to see what Seattle does with all this draft capital and salary cap space. Bring it on.

Go Hawks!