Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider is probably too classy of a guy to entertain any anger toward a player who no longer wanted to be part of the team.
If he didn't (and he seemingly didn't) feel rage toward former quarterback Russell Wilson after Wilson tried to get him fired, then Schneider probably wouldn't feel any potential anger toward someone simply wanting to be traded. Such was the case with quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf this offseason.
The Seahawks do not play Smith's new team, the Las Vegas Raiders, this season, but Seattle does play Metcalf's new team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. That game just got a lot more challenging.
Seahawks' Week 2 matchup versus DK Metcalf and the Steelers just got more fun
And while Schneider, nor most of the other coaches of players on the Seattle roster, might not abhor evil thoughts about Metcalf, they also are not going to be OK with losing to a player that no longer wanted to be part of the club. Someone on the Seahawks is going to want revenge for Metcalf breaking up with the team.
The issue is that Metcalf went to a team with a horrible quarterback situation, and then the Steelers also traded promising wide receiver George Pickens. Pittsburgh hasn't replaced Pickens, but it did find a new quarterback.
Future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, according to Pittsburgh radio host Gerry Dulac and a host of other reporters, is going to sign with the Steelers ahead of minicamp next week. Rodgers might be personally mercurial and 41 years old, but he is still capable of being a good quarterback.
Great? Maybe not anymore, but he did toss 28 touchdown passes and just 11 interceptions for a culturally bereft New York Jets team in 2024. The Steelers' head coach, Mike Tomlin, is going to make sure there is no locker room drama with the Steelers.
Metcalf should be celebrating. He was traded to the Steelers in hopes of being paid, sure, but also wanted to play in a warmer climate for home games than Seattle, on a team closer to winning a championship than the Seahawks, and on a squad with a better quarterback situation.
For three months, none of those wishes were coming true for the receiver. Now, at least, he arguably has a better quarterback situation than Seattle does. Rodgers might not have won a playoff game since 2020, but he has been better than Seattle's Sam Darnold in every season but one. Darnold has tended to fall apart in big games while Rodgers hasn't.
Maybe Rodgers coming to the Steelers will just be for one season, no matter how his contract might make it look. Pittsburgh is going to have a good defense and a rock-solid culture that Rodgers cannot disrupt. When the Seahawks and Steelers face off in Week 2, it will also mark Pittsburgh's first home game for Metcalf and Rodgers.
The matchup just went from one that is must-see for Seahawks and Steelers fans to one that should be the prime NFL game of the week.