The Seattle Seahawks' passing game over the last two seasons have been built around the three-headed monster of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, DK Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett. In the span of about an hour, that whole triad's demise was confirmed in a fairly quick and brutal fashion.
Lockett confirmed that he and the Seahawks were mutually bringing an end to their decade-long partnership. Right after that, news broke that confirmed Metcalf was seeking a trade. Seattle is reportedly willing to explore options with him, which could lead to this trade eventually coming to fruition.
The Seahawks are going to lean heavily on No. 11 in the coming season, which could be both a blessing and a curse for a fringe playoff team like Seattle. This new reality was a bit too much for Smith-Njigba to process in the immediate aftermath.
Smith-Njigba's "wtf" post did a good job of summing up what fans have to be feeling. With Seattle fresh off missing the playoffs and now in need of some major offensive changes once the Metcalf and Lockett departures are finalized, there could be some scary times ahead for the franchise.
Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba reacts to Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf news
Smith-Njigba seemingly took ownership of the WR1 role during his second season, as he had 100 catches compared to Metcalf's 66 grabs, 1,130 yards against Metcalf's 992, and six touchdowns versus Metcalf's five. However, he was rarely double-teamed due to the threat of Seattle's other two wideouts.
With the wide receiver class in the 2025 NFL Draft looking much less deep than in past seasons, Seattle may need to spend some money in free agency on a veteran. Without it, it seems like Smith-Njigba will be the sole player teams will need to take seriously in the Seattle passing attack.
Jake Bobo, who had 13 catches last year, is currently slated to be the No. 2 wide receiver on this team. Behind him is Dareke Young and Jaelon Darden, who have a combined 11 catches between them in the NFL, and John Rhys Plumlee, a converted quarterback. The depth chart looks fairly glum right now.
While Smith-Njigba can take solace in the fact he will be in for a strong 2025 season as the No. 1 target in a pass-happy offense, the Seahawks may need to supplant him with at least one more feared receiver in order to take some of the pressure off of him.
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