Seahawks wide receiver corps set for major shakeup after star's reported trade request, teammate's release

For Lockett, the move was somewhat expected as he approached the age of 33, but Metcalf's reported ask appeared to be quite the surprise.

Metcalf, a second-rounder out of Ole Miss in 2019, has been stout since flashing his freakishly athletic body ahead of that year's NFL Scouting Combine. He's amassed over 900 yards in each of his first six NFL seasons, and has eclipsed 1,000 yards in half of those (he had 992 in 15 games this season).

The 27-year-old inked a $72 million deal ahead of the 2022 season that will expire after this season, and one can't knock the Seahawks for having their eyes on possibly extending soon-to-be third-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba next year. 

"JSN" broke out in his sophomore campaign, leading Seattle with 100 receptions, 1,130 yards and six touchdowns, easily becoming their top target. All of those statistics were ahead of Metcalf's 66-992-5 line.

This season's free agent class of wide receivers would have been elite maybe four years ago, as plenty of decent resumes are available. But many are on the back end of their careers, so the asking price for Metcalf could be quite high. There are also plenty of teams out there that could use a top-notch receiver.

Perhaps the Seahawks also want to turn some attention to quarterback Geno Smith, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent next year when he will be 36 years old. 

After it looked like his career was due for an early exit, he's been everything the team could have hoped for since becoming their full-time starter in 2022. In those three seasons, he's 27-22 with a 68.5 completion percentage, 12,226 yards, 71 touchdowns and just 35 interceptions. It was a long road for Smith, who was a backup from 2015 to 2021 after failing as the Jets' starter.

Seattle went 10-7 this past season but narrowly missed out on the playoffs for a second straight year.