NFL analyst uses cruelest phrase for Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett

Let's set aside any prospect of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett being traded this offseason. He won't be as much as sites that cover other teams like to think he might. Lockett will be in Seattle through at least 2024, and he is signed through 2025.

It is next season that could be the issue for the team and the player. Lockett is still a very good receiver, though he did dip in production in 2023, and he is rightfully well-liked by the franchise. The receiver's real estate group is also the official realtor of the organization.

Seattle, however, is looking at cap concerns next offseason. The team is already over the cap for 2025 and some players will need to leave that maybe the team doesn't want to see leave. Lockett's contract next season has a cap hit of $30,895,000, currently the third-highest in the NFL. That is probably too much to pay for a smaller receiver who will be 33 years old near the beginning of next season.

Tyler Lockett could see an increase in production for the Seattle Seahawks in 2024

Still, Lockett has not slowed so much that the Seahawks can no longer expect him to be productive. He led the team in reception last year, and he was second in receiving yards. His catch rate was a solid 64.8 percent. He is not yet on his "last legs."

That is the category that CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso puts Lockett in, though, in a recent article about players Trapasso's sees as having make-or-break seasons in 2024. Seattle's receiver is coupled with Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer in a section called, "Veterans on their last legs."

Of Lockett, Trapasso writes, "...he'll be 32 years old in September, which is right around the age that even the established big producers at the receiver position typically plummet...After such a steady, productive, and at times, ridiculously efficient tenure with the Seahawks, here's to hoping Lockett can play well in what is likely his last season in Seattle."

Trapasso could be correct and possibly Lockett does decline sharply in 2024. Assuming that happens based on general history is wrong, though. This is especially true since Seattle has a trio of good receivers so Lockett does not have to feel the pressure of trying to do too much. He can fit into new Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's system and play off DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Tyler Lockett might be entering his final season with Seattle because he is very expensive next season. He could have a better season than he did in 2023, however. That should be the expectation.

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