It was never really a question of if, but when the Seattle Seahawks would give D.K. Metcalf a lucrative contract extension. There were trade rumors this offseason, as is the case when practically any elite player is entering the final year of his current contract. The scenario of No. 14 being dealt to another team or eventually leaving in free agency never seemed remotely like a real possibility, though.
Today Seattle made it official, extending their star wideout to the tune of a three-year contract worth a total of $72 million. Metcalf makes out with $58.2 million guaranteed, including a $30 million signing bonus – a new high for his position.
Reports about Metcalf’s new deal estimated that he’d be making somewhere in the range of $25 million per year. In the end, that was pretty close. Metcalf’s annual average is just short of that at $24 million – tying Stefon Diggs for the sixth-best among wide receivers.
Given his age and ability, there’s a real chance that this contract will look like a bargain for the Seahawks in a couple years’ time. For now, both sides got a fair deal. Metcalf is appropriately paid like the top-10 talent he is at his position, while his team didn’t overreach into the rare air of deals for Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill, who’s making a league-high (among wide receivers) $30 million per year with the Dolphins.
Metcalf probably could have earned more if he’d refused the offer and waited to sign after this coming season. However, the length of the deal gives him another chance for a big pay-day while he’s still relatively young. In three years, Metcalf will only be 27 years old. Hopefully by then the Seahawks will have found another Pro-Bowl-caliber franchise quarterback to pair him with so all parties can truly cash in on his prodigious talent.
