Seahawks: Russell Wilson, D.K. Metcalf squash looming trade rumors for now

Everyone is circling the waters to see if the Seahawks will trade valuable players in a rebuild, but Russell Wilson and D.K. Metcalf aren’t taking the bait.

The Seahawks reached the pinnacle of success early in the Pete Carroll era, winning one Super Bowl championship and attending two consecutive Super Bowls in the mid-2010s.

While the Seahawks haven’t been able to play past the Divisional Round since 2014, Seattle still frequents the postseason. This season is starkly different.

Their current 6-10 record signals a team far from their next ring, causing rebuild rumors to storm the press conference climate.

Bobby Wagner was questioned again this week after he revealed that he didn’t know what Seattle had in store for him. Wagner maintains “a lot of optimism” that he will remain a Seahawk, and it seems Russell Wilson and D.K. Metcalf do as well.

Russell Wilson, D.K. Metcalf among latest Seahawks to clarify intentions of staying in Seattle

Russell Wilson has had to quash rumors of his departure for nearly a year now, as The Athletic reported last February that Wilson and his camp was interested in leaving Seattle.

Since then, Wilson has adamantly insisted that he plans on staying with the Seahawks as he pursues success with the team that drafted him.

Metcalf is coming up on a possible extension with the team, which is where things get tricky: everyone might want to stay in Seattle, but someone is going to have to take a pay cut in order for that to happen.

The dynamic wide receiver fell in the 2019 NFL Draft, which worked out for Seattle’s pocketbook: the team is paying Metcalf a little less than $1.5 million in 2022 unless he signs an extension, which he certainly has the leverage to accomplish. Wilson takes up $37 million next year, Wagner takes up $20 million, and Tyler Lockett, Metcalf’s counterpart, is slated to make $10 million.  Metcalf makes pennies on his production and warrants a top-10 salary, which means that Seattle’s best players merit their contracts — but it leaves room for little else.

As of now, the Seahawks have $53 million left in cap space, but that doesn’t stretch far when it comes to enticing the best free agents. And as far as drafting talent the way Seattle did in 2012, it’s simply impossible: the Seahawks don’t have enough picks this offseason.

Wilson, Metcalf and Wagner may want to win with Seattle, but how will they accomplish that? The Patriots dynasty lapsed through poor drafts, which eventually pressured Tom Brady to leave the team. Through a revised draft strategy and $159 million in free agency splurges, New England eventually found a way back. It’s hard to imagine how Seattle will manage to do the same with only four 2022 draft picks.