Recent Seahawks move seems to signal Tyler Lockett won't be with team past 2024

Everybody loves Tyler Lockett, right? We should. Lockett is arguably the second-best receiver in Seattle Seahawks history and he is a better person than he is a player. No one wants to see Lockett stop playing but that does not mean he won't. The NFL is a business and has a hard cap so tough roster decisions have to be made based on money.

Lockett also isn't young for a small receiver who relies on quickness and smarts to get open. He was a good player in 2023, but he was not at his best so one might wonder if that is because Lockett has lost a half-a-step or if he made some business decisions and simply went down on the field instead of taking a jarring hit from a member of the opposing team's secondary.

Either way, who can blame him? He has earned respect for whatever he chooses. Still, those difficult business decisions will continue.

2024 is very likely Tyler Lockett's last season with the Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks recently worked out a contract restructure with Lockett where he chose to take less money overall to stay with the team. This isn't because Lockett cannot find a job somewhere else, but probably more so because he is just a very decent human who wants to stay in Seattle instead of leaving to play elsewhere. He knows 12s love him and he has been an important part of the team and will remain so into 2024.

But his 2024 cap hit was so high that general manager John Schneider might have been forced to think about releasing the receiver. Seattle had to cut bloated contracts, such as Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, to make sure there was enough room to sign free agents this year. The same will be the issue next year, and that is the problem for the Seahawks and Lockett.

There is literally no way Lockett remains on the 2025 roster the way his current contract is structured even though the deal was recently restructured. Lockett's cap hit in 2025 would be an incredible $30,895,000 but his dead cap is only $4 million. By removing Lockett from the 2025 roster, the Seahawks would save nearly $27 million. (Over the Cap has a different number, but Seattle would still save a whopping $17 million by releasing Lockett after the 2024 season). No matter how great a player is, that is probably too much to pass up on.

12s should relish watching Tyler Lockett in 2024. Next season will very likely be his final season with the team. Maybe he will simply retire and devote his time to the real work of helping humanity, which he has already done through his foundation. If Lockett does leave after 2024 and stops playing professional football, the team might not be better off but humankind would be.

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