Source: Seahawks star WR DK Metcalf requests trade
SEATTLE — Seahawks star wide receiver DK Metcalf has requested a trade away from Seattle and prefers to be dealt to a contending team, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Metcalf, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, made his trade request Wednesday after a series of conversations over the past two weeks, the source told Schefter. The request came on the same day the Seahawks announced the release of franchise great and fellow receiver Tyler Lockett in an expected move.
The Seahawks are upset that news of Metcalf’s trade request was leaked on a day the organization was celebrating Lockett’s 10-year career in Seattle, a source told ESPN. The source said the team will explore a Metcalf trade, adding, “We will do what’s best for the Seahawks.”
Metcalf’s agent did not respond to a request for comment from ESPN.
The team had already engaged in trade discussions regarding Metcalf before Wednesday, according to a source, though it’s not clear if they were actively shopping the receiver or merely listening to trade offers.
Metcalf, 27, is seeking a new deal as he enters the final year of the three-year, $72 million extension he signed in 2022. He’s set to make a little over $18 million in 2025. Trading him before June 1 would clear nearly $10.9 million in salary cap space but would force the Seahawks to take on $21 million in dead money this season.
Metcalf is coming off a 66-catch, 992-yard, five-touchdown season, having missed two games with a knee injury.
With speculation mounting about his future in Seattle as he entered a contract year, general manager John Schneider brushed off a question about the receiver’s situation at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. Coach Mike Macdonald has talked publicly about Metcalf being a focal point of Seattle’s offense in 2025, reiterating at the combine that they had to get him more involved after he finished last season with 108 targets in 15 games.
Macdonald previously talked about how his interviews with offensive coordinator candidates included questions about how they would maximize Metcalf, and that his pick for the job, Klint Kubiak, had a strong plan.
Metcalf averaged nine targets over the Seahawks’ first six games last season. He hurt his MCL in Week 7, missed two games and then averaged just under six targets the rest of the season. Macdonald noted that Metcalf still wasn’t 100% healthy while citing the emergence of second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba — who led the team with 100 catches, 1,130 receiving yards and six touchdowns — as another factor.
The Seahawks traded up to draft Metcalf with the final pick of the second round in 2019. Despite running a 4.33 second 40-yard dash at the combine at 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds, he had fallen in the draft due in part to concerns about his route running as well as a serious neck injury that had ended his final college season at Ole Miss.
But Metcalf quickly became a star, finishing with 900 receiving yards as a rookie before setting a franchise record with 1,303 in 2020. He made the Pro Bowl in his second season and again in 2023. His 6,324 receiving yards are the most in team history over a player’s first six seasons. That total ranks 11th among wide receivers since 2019, while Metcalf’s 48 receiving touchdowns are fifth most in that span.
Metcalf’s 38 total penalties are 10 more than any other wide receiver had since 2019. He has drawn criticism for a sometimes-undisciplined playing style, with several of his penalties coming for after-the-whistle infractions.
Mike Tannenbaum and Kimberley A. Martin react to Dak Prescott’s claim that the Cowboys aren’t far behind the Eagles when it comes to team quality. (1:47)
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott no longer has the highest 2025 salary cap figure in the NFL.
The Cowboys have restructured Prescott’s contract and created $36.6 million in cap space, a source told ESPN on Wednesday. The Cowboys converted $45.75 million of Prescott’s base salary to a signing bonus, reducing his cap figure from $89.89 million to $53.29 million.
In the past two days, the Cowboys have created $56.6 million in cap room by restructuring the contracts of Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. But that doesn’t mean they will spend big when free agency begins next week.
“I’m not looking at free agency as a place to fill voids,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said.
That doesn’t mean the Cowboys don’t have needs for their roster.
“Not if you include what might work for us in the draft and what we’re doing with our own roster relative to who we want to sign,” Jones said.
The restructures do not impact a potential extension for All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons, who is set to play the 2025 season on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal at $22.06 million. A contract extension would lower that number, creating more cap room for the Cowboys.
Parsons told ESPN late last season that he does not need to be the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL and said after the season ended that he wanted the Cowboys to be a player in free agency. The Cowboys recently opened discussions with Parsons’ agent on an extension.
The timing of when a deal gets finalized is not overly important to Jones. Last year, the Cowboys did not sign Lamb until the end of training camp and signed Prescott hours before the season opener.
“We get criticized because we wait until the end or what you would call the end, and that is lining up for the first game,” Jones said. “It just happens that way. I’ve been one of the earliest out there on several contracts in my 35 years.”
On Tuesday, the Cowboys signed Parsons’ running mate, defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, to a four-year, $80 million deal that included $52 million guaranteed. His 2025 cap number is $6.25 million.
Executive vice president Stephen Jones said the Cowboys would be “selectively aggressive” in free agency this year, compared to a year ago when they lost key free agents such as left tackle Tyron Smith, running back Tony Pollard, center Tyler Biadasz, defensive ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler, and defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins from a 12-5 team in 2023 and did little to replace them.
“As opportunity would come up from [outside], not the draft, not from within, as the opportunity comes up, we’ll weigh it,” Jerry Jones said. “Last year, we would have waited, but we’ll look and see the opportunity to improve on the plan that basically both defense and offense is to complement what we’re wanting to do with a Dak-led team.”
With free agency looming next week, the Cowboys have a number of pending free agents they would like to keep, including cornerback Jourdan Lewis, punter Bryan Anger and running back Rico Dowdle. Last year’s leading tackler, linebacker Eric Kendricks, is set to be a free agent, as is longtime defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
If Lawrence leaves and with the retirement of All-Pro right guard Zack Martin, Prescott, a fourth-round pick in 2016, would be the longest-tenured member of the Cowboys.
As for Prescott’s contract, the drop in this year’s cap number will lead to a $9.15 million increase in his 2026 cap number to $76.8 million.
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