4 Seahawks who will be playing for their future jobs in Week 18

Seattle needs more greatness from Tyler Lockett

This is not a diss of Tyler Lockett. Lockett is one of the most likable players in Seahawks history and he has been a great receiver for many years. My hope is that Lockett can bounce back to pre-2023 levels if he stays on the roster. He along with DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba could form a fantastic trio in 2024 after a year of experience for JSN. But the rise of JSN appears to possibly be happening at the same time as the decline of Lockett.

Lockett has 118 targets this year, the second-most of his career. His yards per reception, though, is 107. which is the second-lowest of his career. His catch rate of 65.3 percent is his lowest since 2017. He is on pace for his fewest touchdown catches since that same year. And he will likely end up with his fewest receiving yards since 2017, too. But Lockett wasn't bad in 2017, he simply wasn't as big a part of the passing game as he is now. He only had 71 targets in 2017, for instance.

The real problem with Lockett is how much his cap hit goes up in 2024. His career high in cap hit is this year and is $11,060,000. Next year that jumps to $26,795,000. If Seattle released him they would save a little over $7 million in cap space this coming offseason. I am not saying I want Lockett to no longer be on the team, but extremely difficult financial decisions have to be made in the NFL.

My hope is that Tyler Lockett has an explosive game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18 and has something like 15 catches for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns. I am just not sure he is capable of that. Lockett doesn't have a 100-yard receiving game this year and in his last three games he has caught just 12 of his 25 targets for 112 yards. Plus, he hasn't caught a touchdown pass since Week 10. (And for those who want to blame Geno Smith for Lockett's production, compare that to DK Metcalf who is averaging a career-high 17.0 yards per catch and has the second-most receiving yards of his career this year.)

Read more from 12th Man Rising