Seahawks' John Schneider forces another mediocre deal with DK Metcalf trade

Just like that, DK Metcalf is now on the Pittsburgh Steelers. I guess you can give John Schneider some credit here; when a player says he wants to be traded, he better have his bags packed. The question is, did the Seattle Seahawks get all they could on these deals?

At least we can't say it's the same old boring Seahawks now. Remember when two years ago, it felt like nothing ever changed with the Hawks? Now, in just five days, they released their second-greatest receiver ever and traded away their starting quarterback and leading receiver of the past six seasons.

You can argue the point that Tyler Lockett was still the WR1 for Metcalf's first couple of years. You could also say that Jaxon Smith-Njigba easily surpassed number 14's production last year. One thing you can't ignore is that JSN got significantly more targets after Metcalf missed two games with an injury. It's also true that on most plays, Metcalf received double coverage, leaving JSN with just one man to beat. Regardless, Metcalf was a major star for the Seahawks. So, did Seattle get enough for him?

Seahawks got the best deal for DK Metcalf they could but should have moved sooner

The details haven't all been revealed yet. All that's been officially announced is that Seattle got a second-round pick from Pittsburgh and that DK got a truckload of cash. Considering the Steelers only have one pick in that round, the 52nd overall, I'm guessing that's what they sent to the Hawks.

Once the news was leaked that Metcalf had requested a trade, John Schneider set the asking price. Asking both a first and third-round pick seemed a bit steep, I'll admit it. Then, just news broke that Seattle had dropped the price. Just hours later, that deal "centered on" a second-round pick literally became nothing but a late second-rounder. For the record, Pro Football Focus lists the Steelers' pick as the 53rd overall. Just sayin'.

Over the next few days, we'll know more about how the trade played out. When the trade of Geno Smith was first announced, it seemed like the Hawks got fleeced. Then we heard that Smith asked for a deal between $40 and $45 million, and John Schneider said no.

However, now it's been reported that Seattle made Smith that offer and got no counteroffer. So they scrambled to make the best deal they could, with Smith's guaranteed roster bonus of $16 million looming on March 17th.

So maybe there's more to this than the Seahawks settled for a bad trade. However, Metcalf, like Smith, was entering the final year of his contract. With free agency here, the Seahawks again seemed rushed to make a deal as soon as they could. Schneider could have been working on extensions for both players months ago. But "that's not how it's done in Seattle."

Maybe it needs to be done differently. It's great that the Seahawks signed Jarran Reed, even if there's some sticker shock attached. Linebacker Ernest Jones IV signed a three-year extension too, also great news for the Hawks and the 12s. But maybe, just maybe, Mr. Schneider needs to start working on deals for the very top players in the organization a bit sooner than the last minute. I doubt that Jody Allen has been thrilled with the five things John Schneider accomplished in the past week.

More Seahawks news and analysis: