What a Tyler Lockett trade could look like for Seahawks
By Geoff Shull
Seahawks trade Tyler Lockett to Dolphins
Tyler Lockett is a fan favorite. It’s rightfully deserved too. He is an incredibly genuine player who flies so far below the media that he doesn’t get nearly the attention he deserves. A true star on and off the field.
The problem lies with the Seahawks lack of assets. Currently, the team is sitting in some dimension of purgatory in terms of assets. The only way to regain a better grip on the off-season is to acquire more assets.
Lockett’s contract currently is set to expire at the end of his age-28 season. It’s safe to wonder if investing more into what will be a 29-year-old wide receiver with a history of injuries is a smart decision.
With Tyler Lockett entering the final year of his contract, he is rightfully under the option 1 criteria (extend a player to regain some current year cap space). The amount of money regained would be minimal, but there would be some gain. Something around $3-$5 million in cap space. This would bring Seattle’s total “true” cap space to around $4-$6 million.
Still, the Seahawks are in the bottom half of the NFL in terms of cap space while landing with the 6th most pending free agents. This cap savings does very little to help. Sometimes to gain an asset, you have to give something up.
Proposed trade:
The Dolphins need a bonafide star to help their organization take the next step. They would gain a 28-year-old star wide receiver who is coming off two back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns. All it would cost is an early second round pick and absorbing his $11.5 million salary.
For Seattle, they would save $11.5 million of Lockett’s $13.75 million cap hit from the trade. They would also recoup a pick right after the first round. This move alone would get their foot back in the door for getting this off-season under control.
Seeing the trade is cool and all, but what could it practically do for the Seahawks today? Let me show you on the next slide. I’ll dive into what the team can do with the saved cap space and a new draft pick.