DK Metcalf’s trade request has been fulfilled and so too has his need for a new contract.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have acquired Metcalf, who is signing a four-year, $132 million extension, from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a 2025 second-round draft pick, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Sunday. The teams are also swapping 2025 sixth- and seventh-round picks, Pelissero added.
Metcalf, 27, is now under contract for five years and $150 million.
The two-time Pro Bowler requested a trade ahead of his seventh season with the Seahawks — and the last of his second contract with $18 million due in 2025. As noted by Pelissero, Metcalf was seeking a new deal and a fresh start with a contender. The Steelers have advanced to the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, while the Seahawks have made the dance just once over the previous four seasons.
Pittsburgh, after falling short of working out a trade for San Francisco 49ers wideout Brandon Aiyuk last offseason, has now secured the dynamic wideout its so coveted.
Though Metcalf is the addition the Steelers have been striving for, it’s also curious to see what becomes of wideout George Pickens, a big-play, contested-catch talent like Metcalf who’s entering the final year of his rookie contract.
The Seahawks, meanwhile, will look drastically different with quarterback Geno Smith set to be traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, veteran Tyler Lockett released and Metcalf now gone. Former first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba remains to lead the WR corps — as he did statistically last season — but the cupboard is rather bare behind him and it remains to be seen who will be throwing him the ball.
Metcalf doesn’t know who will be throwing him the ball with the Steelers at the moment, either. The team’s 2024 starters — Justin Fields and Russell Wilson– are impending free agents.
However, Pittsburgh has long-sought a bona fide WR1. Metcalf — who had 66 receptions for 992 yards and five touchdowns (which would have led the Steelers in catches and yards) — boasts three 1,000-yards seasons, the physicality to excel and survive in the arduous AFC North and the speed to break games wide open.
The Steelers got their guy, and after six fruitful seasons in Seattle, Metcalf is saying good bye, traveling cross country and to a new conference.
