It's been a whirlwind week for the Seattle Seahawks and DK Metcalf, one that came to a rather stunning conclusion on Sunday night. Just days after the wide receiver requested a trade out of Seattle, the Seahawks dealt him to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick.
The pick is for the upcoming draft in April, which is good news, but the fallout from this trade will likely last much longer than that.
Metcalf's exit comes just days after Geno Smith was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, and it's hard to not see both moves as one even though they were separate deals. We know that the Seahawks tried to package Metcalf and Smith in a deal to the Raiders for Maxx Crosby, an offer that was quickly rejected, but that was the first indication that their time in Seattle was coming to an end.
It turns out they both requested trade after contract talks didn't go the way either wanted, and it's not a surprise that Metcalf and Smith got rich new deals as soon as they were dealt. Metcalf is set to sign a five-year, $150 million deal with the Steelers to lock him in as a key piece of Pittsburgh's core for the foreseeable future. Smith is set to get around $45 million per season in a new deal with the Raiders, which could be viewed as a win for the Seahawks in that they won't be on the hook for two monster contracts.
Then again, it's hard to see ways either trade was a win since upgrading will be a lot easier said than done.
DK Metcalf trade grade: Did the Seahawks get fleeced?
Grade: C+
There are two ways to look at the Metcalf trade, neither one feels particularly great. As a standalone the Seahawks essentially moved off a star receiver in order to avoid being on the hook for what amounts to $30 million per season for the next five years.
Metcalf is a game changing player, but the question is whether or not he's worth all of that when the Seahawks have more than a few areas of the roster to improve. Getting a second round pick back for him at least puts Seattle in a position to replace him in the draft, but that's still a premium pick that could be used elsewhere.
Seattle also has Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who now becomes WR1 and has even more pressure on him than he already did after the Seahawks let Tyler Lockett go.
Of course it's hard to not see this trade in tandem with the Smith deal. Seattle was a playoff team two years ago and has now essentially hit the reset button for a second and third round pick in this year's draft. That's what the sum total of the return for two of the best players on the roster is, which means John Schnieder has better hit those picks out of the park or risk being on the wrong end of these trades.