Heaps: How Cooper Kupp’s big extension impacts Seahawks’ DK Metcalf

The offseason of massive wide receiver contracts continues while DK Metcalf and the Seahawks have yet to agree to terms on a new deal.

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The latest receiver to sign a big new extension is Los Angeles Rams star Cooper Kupp, who inked a three-year extension worth nearly $80 million on Wednesday. Kupp, 28, was an All-Pro in 2021, earning NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors and was named Super Bowl MVP.

Kupp is the latest star receiver to earn a new megadeal, joining Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown as wideouts who’ve signed for big bucks in the last few months. Metcalf and a few other young star receivers are still seeking their next contracts.

So when it comes to Metcalf, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract, how does Kupp’s new deal impact his negotiations with the Seahawks? Former NFL quarterback Jake Heaps broke it down during Thursday’s Jake and Stacy on Seattle Sports 710 AM.

Heaps thinks the Seahawks have made a mistake by waiting this long to ink Metcalf to his next contract.

“This is what happens when you wait this long. For the positives that the organization could probably argue to you as to why this is the right thing for the organization to do is compartmentalize and wait for these big superstar contracts to the end of the summer, the one downfall of that is the fact that if everybody else gets paid, then the contract for somebody like DK Metcalf continues to rise,” Heaps said.

Heaps noted that something similar happened with star safety Jamal Adams last offseason. Adams ultimately waited until training camp to sign and was and still is the highest-paid safety in the NFL.

“And for DK Metcalf, it is the same,” Heaps said. “Now Cooper Kupp, he’s got $26 million per year in his new money that he’s getting … so that raises that price point (for Metcalf).”

In addition to the average annual dollars Kupp is receiving, $75 million of his contract is guaranteed. Heaps said that both money amounts are worth keeping note of when it comes to Metcalf and the Seahawks

“So now the guaranteed money just went up. This is what happens when you wait,” he said.

The Seahawks have historically liked to wait until later in the offseason to sign players to extensions, but Heaps noted that they inked receiver Tyler Lockett to contract extensions twice in his career, and both came early in the offseason. Both those deals have worked out favorably for Seattle, Heaps said.

“The first time they paid (Lockett) $10 million and everyone was like, ‘What? They paid him $10 million? What?” And then it was a steal. It was an absolute steal,” Heaps said. “And then they go out and they pay him $17 million per year and everyone was like, ‘What? Now he’s gonna be into his 30s, are you sure you want to do that?’ Absolutely. Because now Tyler Lockett’s contract looks like a steal. Both times they got out ahead of it and it paid dividends because of that.

“Now that you wait on DK Metcalf, the asking price continues to go up and up and up and you still have more contracts potentially to go.”

Listen to the full second hour of Thursday’s Jake and Stacy at this link or in the player below.

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