Huard: Free agency showing why Seahawks won’t trade DK Metcalf

Mar 12, 2024, 2:24 PM | Updated: 2:30 pm

DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks catches a pass in 2023. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

(Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

Earlier in the offseason, Mike Salk of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk floated the idea that the Seattle Seahawks should consider trading star receiver DK Metcalf.

Seattle Seahawks 2024 Offseason Tracker: Free agents and more

The premise wasn’t that the Seahawks don’t need Metcalf or couldn’t use him moving forward. Instead, Salk’s point was that Metcalf may be their Seattle’s valuable trade chip, and with so many holes on the roster, the team should see if Metcalf could net a first-round NFL Draft pick and possibly more.

That was before the start of NFL free agency, however, which kicked off on Monday.

Now that the market has officially started, is trading Metcalf still something that could be in the cards for the Seahawks? Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard broke it down to Salk during Tuesday’s Brock and Salk.

“We learned that those boys were not really involved in phase one (of free agency),” Huard said of the wide receiver market. “Michael Pittman (of the Indianapolis Colts) was and Mike Evans got his deal done early (with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), so some big, dominant receivers certainly got their money. But there’s a lot of guys yesterday looking at this going, ‘Hello, hello? Can you can you answer the phone? Hello, can I get in on this party? Hello, the salary cap is $255 million? Can you pay your boy out here on the perimeter?’ And I think a lot of the teams said, ‘Yeah, you’re just gonna have to wait a little bit because this is the deepest wide receiver draft,’ and you’re starting to hear rumblings, Salk, from more and more people.”

Huard said many draft analysts are all saying something along the lines of, “I cannot remember a draft like this,” when it comes to the depth and talent at wide receiver.

“And then oh, by the way, you see second- and third-rounders the last few years pop and pop and pop. Do I really have to spend in the top 10 on a wide receiver? Well, you know what, if there’s a really unique one like (Marvin) Harrison or (Rome) Odunze or (Malik) Nabers, sure, but man, this thing is going to stretch,” Huard said. “There are teams that feel like there are starters that can come in here like Tank Dell (with the Houston Texans) and be a difference-making starter in the second or third round.

“So why am I going to give some of this big old cash to this perimeter player on the outside? Why would I ever trade a first-round pick for DK Metcalf when I’ve got the next DK Metcalf (in the draft)? … I can find that and I’d sure like to pay him what I’ve got to pay him and not top of the market (money) at $19-20 million.”

Ultimately, Huard told Salk they need to “shelve” the idea of the Seahawks trading Metcalf this offseason.

“The market, to me, is not super favorable,” Huard said.

Replied Salk: “Let me be clear, you need to shelve it because the market has changed, not because it’s not the right idea for the Seahawks.”

Huard agreed with that.

“The premise is great. The premise makes sense,” Huard said. “How do I add value to my team? But then you’ve got to see what the market is willing to pay. And if yesterday was any indicator for these wide receivers, it is a saturated market both on the free agent side and certainly a saturated talent, deep supply on this draft side, which makes making that kind of move a little bit tougher.”

Listen to Tuesday’s Blue 88 at this link or in the player near the top of this story.