INSIDE SEAHAWKS WR DK METCALF MASSIVE THREE-YEAR, $72MILLION EXTENSION
The Seattle Seahawks agreed to terms with wide receiver DK Metcalf on a three-year, $72million contract extension last week, as reported by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
The deal includes a $30million signing bonus, and $58.2million in guaranteed money. Metcalf is set to earn $24million on average a year, tied with Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs amongst all wide receivers in terms of AAV. The extension is yet another massive deal for 2019 wide receivers taken outside the first round after AJ Brown, Terry McLaurin, and Hunter Renfrow all got paid this offseason.
The extension will keep Metcalf in Seattle through the 2025 season and means the former second-round draft pick will be a free agent for the first time at just 28 years old. Metcalf will now be the Seahawks’ highest-paid player, surpassing safety Jamal Adams at $17.5million. Metcalf’s agent Tory Dandy and Seahawks GM John Schneider and executive Matt Thomas finalized the deal on Thursday afternoon.
“I just want to say thank you to, first, God,” Metcalf said. “John [Schneider], Pete [Carroll], Ms. Jody Allen, Matt [Thomas], Tory [Dandy]. Just coming from Oxford, Mississippi all the way over here to Seattle is a long journey. It really hasn’t hit me until now that I’ll have the opportunity to help so many people back home and help my family. Just thinking about when I broke my neck and I was told I wasn’t going to be able to play football again and now just this moment happening. It’s just all a blessing.”
“My teachers, coaches from middle school, high school, my college coaches, college teammates, AJ Brown, Elijah Moore, Demarcus Gregory, and then I get here and I meet guys like Russ [Wilson], Bobby [Wagner], Duane Brown, Tyler Lockett, Quandre Diggs, Al Woods, Freddie Swain, they push me and just make it exciting just to come to work. It’s a lot of people, I’m still forgetting the names, just this moment it’s all just come together just so I can be with this organization and this family that I get to call my family for the next coming years.”
“It’s just all a blessing, all amazing and I just thank everybody ‘cause it took a village just for me to get here today and just a big thank you to everybody that helped me get to this point in my life. I’m still not done and that chip hasn’t gone anywhere.”
With the wide receiver market exploding this offseason, Metcalf’s extension had always been a lingering concern despite optimistic comments from both the 24-year-old and head coach Pete Carroll that it would get settled. Metcalf was entering the final year of his rookie contract and was due an extension and a massive payout.
Drafted 64th overall by the Seahawks in 2019, the 6 foot 4, 235-pound receiver has established a name for himself in the league, securing an All-Pro selection in 2020, and has quickly become one of the league’s most devastating matchup nightmares. Metcalf had a massive impact in his rookie season, putting up 58 receptions for 900 yards and seven touchdowns while starting all 16 games. He also set a rookie single-game record with 160 receiving yards in a January 5th wild-card victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia.
The former Ole Miss wideout ranks 10th among all receivers in yards (3,170) and is tied for 5th in touchdowns (29) since he was drafted. He is 7th all-time in touchdown catches over a player’s first three seasons and is now the same age as Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp when he first broke into the NFL. Metcalf also leads the 2019 wide receiver draft class in receiving touchdowns with 29, ahead of both AJ Brown (24) and Marquise Brown (21), and broke Hall of Famer and former Seahawk Steve Largent’s franchise record with 1,303 receiving yards.
The Mississippi-born receiver will now bring a quick end to his two-day “hold-in” – after he showed up to training last week but didn’t participate as he waited for the deal to be finalized. He was among a group of NFL players that included 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel and Chargers safety Derwin James, who were also angling for extensions this offseason as well.
The receiver’s contract extension will be received as a message from the Seahawks’ front office to their locker room that the team still values key players and they want to keep as many from this core as possible.
Seahawks GM John Schneider spoke about the extension on Friday: “Obviously, we quickly identified DK as a core, core player for us moving forward here, right away. I thought it was really, really fitting looking back, and ironic that Kam Chancellor was able to be at the 2019 draft and be able to introduce DK with the 64th pick that year… You know you talk about two individuals; so similar, professional, intense, great workers, good people, treat everybody in the building really well, huge competitors.”
“As soon as you [Metcalf] walked into the building everybody knew you were part of our family. [In] the pre-draft process you’re trying to figure out the person [you want] but everyone in this building thinks the world of you and I hope you know that.”
The Seahawks lost quarterback Russell Wilson, outside linebacker Bobby Wagner, and retiring running back Chris Carson this offseason. Teams from around the league had put in trade offers for Metcalf since March, and while the team listened, they still always had intentions to keep the former Oxford High School receiver.
Metcalf suffered a career-threatening neck injury in college but has yet to miss a game in his NFL career. He played most of last season with a broken bone in his foot that required surgery. Head coach Pete Carroll said on Wednesday last week that the wideout had passed his physical and “is fine.”
“This young man is a cutting-edge performer in all ways,” Carroll said in a presser on Friday. “The way he applies himself, his expectations, the way he’s willing to work. There’s nothing that he is not willing to do to get to the best of his abilities and potential. But it’s not just about football and it’s not just about sports, it’s about how he attacks everything that he’s going for. I’m so thrilled that he’s with us.”
Whether the Seahawks use Drew Lock or Geno Smith this season has yet to be determined. But what “the 12” will be excited by is the assurance that one of the most exciting young receivers in the league will be catching balls in Seattle for some years to come.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.