Getty Wide receiver DK Metcalf didn't attend the Seattle Seahawks' mandatory veteran minicamp.
By all appearances, Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl wide receiver D.K. Metcalf is discontent — and now might be the perfect time for the Chicago Bears to pounce.
When minicamp began for the Seahawks on June 7, Melcalf, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, wasn’t there. He didn’t show up for any of the three days mandated by the team, making his absence unexcused, according to The News Tribune.
The 24-year-old wideout is rehabbing his foot after having surgery, and neither Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll nor the team has confirmed whether Metcalf will be fined, but if he is, he faces over $90,000 for missing mandatory minicamp, ESPN’s Brady Henderson and Jeremy Fowler reported.
Sources confirm to @JFowlerESPN and me that DK Metcalf is not present for the start of Seahawks mandatory minicamp. Players with unexcused absences are subject to over $90K in fines for missing all three days. Metcalf is seeking an extension and recovering from foot surgery.
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Bears Should at Least Call Seattle & Have a Conversation
Metcalf is coming off a 2021 season in which he caught 75 passes for 967 yards (12.9 yards per catch) and a career-high 12 touchdowns, per Pro Football Reference. The year before, in 2020, he hauled in 83 passes for 1,303 yards (15.7 yards per catch) and 10 TDs. He has 3,170 yards and 29 scores in his three seasons, making the Pro Bowl in 2020, and he has yet to miss a game in his NFL career.
He would be the perfect receiver for the Bears to add in order to give second-year quarterback Justin Fields a proven weapon. Pro Football Focus ranked Chicago’s WR corps the league’s worst this offseason, but adding a player of Metcalf’s caliber would change the team’s offensive dynamic instantly, taking some pressure off current No. 1 Darnell Mooney while also providing newcomers Byron Pringle and Velus Jones Jr. with opportunities.
A #Bears-Metcalf trade made sense in April and still makes sense now — Fields is on the 2nd year of his rookie deal, so this move would maximize the rookie QB window.
Metcalf, Mooney, Pringle, Jones would be a dynamic, top-12 WR room through ~2025. It’s both now & future-minded.
Bears Urged to Pursue Metcalf, Who Wouldn’t Come Cheap
If Chicago were to pursue Metcalf via trade, the team would have to pay a significant price based on the current WR market.
Several of the league’s top WRs, including Davante Adams, who inked a five-year, $141.25 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders ($67.5 million guaranteed, via Spotrac) and Tyreek Hill, who signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension with the Miami Dolphins ($72.2 million guaranteed) have seen significant paydays, so the Bears would surely have to pony up if they wanted to trade for and extend Metcalf in a similar fashion.
According to Spotrac, the Bears currently have over $20.2 million in cap room, and they’re set to have over $90 million in cap space in 2023. If Seattle wanted to trade Metcalf — or if he tries to force the team’s hand — Chicago could structure Metcalf’s new deal so it would be heavier in 2023 and beyond, when the squad will have more available cash.
There will also be draft picks involved, likely of the Round 1 variety, particularly considering the Philadelphia Eagles sent a first rounder during the draft in exchange for A.J. Brown. Still, Metcalf could be worth the cost. It’s unlikely the Bears would part with their 2023 first-round pick, but considering they’re expected to have a losing record in 2022, the pick could be a high one and thus an attractive one to other teams.
Metcalf is young, talented and established, so it’s no surprise multiple analysts, including Robert Schmitz of SB Nation’s Windy City Gridiron and his WGC colleague, Jacob Infante, are among those urging the Bears to pursue the Seahawks wideout. Schmitz called him “Fields’ ideal WR and a perfect pair for Darnell Mooney:”
@robertkschmitz Not to mention a perfect fit as a Getsy ‘X’ too 👀
Think the odds are slim but I’d definitely be putting feelers out for him
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What’s Metcalf’s Situation With Seattle?
The Seahawks have publicly stated they’d like to extend the young WR. “There’s been conversations. Some. We’re in pretty, kind of a standard, kinda semi-quiet [time] right now, knowing that camp’s coming up,” Carroll said on June 9, per NFL.com. “These are crucial weeks to get something done. We’ll see what happens, and hope that we can work something out. We really intended to get that done.”
NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported in February of 2022 Metcalf’s surgery was a “minor” one to remove a screw that was in his foot from a previous procedure. “I had hoped that he might come in, because he was still in rehab phase, he wouldn’t be able to do all of the work,” Carroll added when Metcalf didn’t show for mandatory minicamp. “That he would’ve been here, would’ve been good for us. Unfortunately, he wasn’t here.”
If Metcalf is unhappy in Seattle — and with wholly unproven QBs Drew Lock and Geno Smith set to throw to him during a contract year, he very likely could be — he may try to force his way out.
Regardless, Bears general manager Ryan Poles should be on the phone calling Seattle GM John Schneider to gauge the situation with Metcalf — who is also a legacy player.
His father, Terrence Metcalf, was a third-round draft pick for the Bears in 2002. An offensive lineman, the elder Metcalf spent seven seasons in the Windy City, playing in 78 games, starting 25. While that’s no reason to pursue the Seattle WR, it would certainly make a Metcalf-Bears union all the more storybook.
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Bears Have Small Window to Trade for Seahawks WR DK Metcalf