The Seattle Seahawks have changed the way the team looks in 2025. Gone is the starting quarterback, Geno Smith, and the face of the team, DK Metcalf. Fan-favorite wide receiver Tyler Lockett is gone as well.
The odd part is that, especially when it comes to Smith, all offseason 12s heard how the team really wanted to keep some key players around and were working on potential extensions. With Smith, the quarterback obviously wanted something worth around $40 million or more a season beginning in 2026. That is not an outrageous amount to ask for, based on the current contractual landscape of NFL quarterbacks.
Metcalf already had a cap hit of $31 million in 2025, and the assumption is that the receiver would want to stay at that level on his next deal. Seattle hasn't been afraid to pay market value when it comes to receivers and safeties, but suddenly, the team did not appear to want to pay Metcalf anything near his asking price.
Could there be an underlying reason for the Seattle Seahawks to trade DK Metcalf and Geno Smith?
There were rumors that Seattle offered Smith at least $40 million a season in his extension, but he wanted out of Seattle. Both Metcalf and Smith requested to be traded. If Seattle was truly sold on Smith, why did it take the team less than two days to go from making a trade request to actually trading the player?
That was a quick turnaround from belief in a player to letting him walk away.
One thing to keep an eye on this offseason is how much Seattle signs players who will be replacing Smith, Metcalf, and Lockett. A potential option at quarterback is free agent Sam Darnold. Will Seattle offer much more than $30-35 million a season?
The Seahawks could be trying to reshape the future of the offense by making such substantial moves, but the team could also be looking to cut back on payroll without ever saying that is part of an intentional plan.
Could it be that the team is trying to get the bottom line nearly perfect in anticipation that the team is going to be sold soon? The Paul Allen Trust was written in a way where the team would need to be sold relatively soon after Allen died. He did so in 2018, and his sister, Jody, took over as chairperson of the Trust and, therefore, ownership of the Seahawks.
Prior to 2024, it would not have made much sense for the Trust to sell the team. Doing so before then would have meant that 10 percent of the proceeds of the sale would have had to go to the state of Washington. The state partially funded the building of what is now Lumen Field. All the team needed to do to avoid paying that 10 percent was to wait until the first part of 2024.
Sure, maybe Seattle is simply trying to do a quick offensive rebuild, and that means ridding itself of players such as the poor route-running Metcalf and an aging and expensive quarterback. Even signing Sam Darnold in free agency was less expensive than extending Smith. But perhaps there is something else going on in the cost-cutting moves that have been so drastic.