On Wednesday, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero posted on X.com that two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DK Metcalf has requested a trade out of Seattle, and the Seahawks have agreed to explore options for moving one of the best athletes in the NFL.
Pelissero added, “Days before free agency, the 27-year-old Metcalf immediately becomes the top receiver available. Metcalf has one year and $18 million left on his contract, and any team giving up the type of compensation it would take to get him will likely want to do a new deal."
Metcalf is a name that has already circulated the Patriots offseason rumor mill quite a bit, with the most recent bit of reporting locally coming from The Boston Herald.
This is what Herald reporters Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed wrote about Metcalf on Sunday:
“The Patriots prefer signing [Tee] Higgins or [Chris] Godwin over a trade for another No. 1 receiver for the simple fact they would rather sign someone into their $127.7 million worth of cap space instead of surrendering draft capital in a deal and significant cap space. The front office has nonetheless kicked the tires on a potential trade for Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf, per source, while it weighs the ripple effects of making a player they’re not familiar with, like Metcalf, the new highest-paid player on the team.
“Why?
“Vrabel has mandated the front office treat toughness, play demeanor and football character as non-negotiables when targeting players, so he can rapidly re-establish a winning culture. These traits are all common to some mid-level free agents the Patriots plan to pursue, including a couple of veteran defenders sources believe will out-perform their markets based on the Patriots’ interest.
“If the Patriots whiff on their top targets — a group that consists of mid-level veterans and top-of-the-market talents — they will pivot to Plans B, C and, if necessary D, at select positions.”
Metcalf is a player that has long been on the wishlist for Patriots fans, dating back to when he was a draft prospect coming out of Ole Miss in 2019.
With an aging Tom Brady growing frustrated with the lack of talent around him on offense, conventional wisdom locally was that the Patriots would get the six-time Super Bowl champion some help at receiver in the 2019 NFL Draft.
With players like Metcalf, A.J. Brown, Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel available for the picking, the team instead opted for drafting N’Keal Harry out of Arizona State at No. 32 overall.
We don’t need to relitigate how that went, do we?
Metcalf, along with the other three names mentioned above, went on to become an immediate impact player in the league, and was selected as an All-Pro on the second team in his second season.
In each of his six seasons in the NFL, Metcalf has reached at least 900 yards receiving, showing a proven ability to stretch the field for a Seattle offense that has lacked a top-tier quarterback since Russell Wilson’s departure after the 2021 season.
For his career, Metcalf has amassed 6,324 receiving yards, which amounts to an average of 65.2 receiving yards per game. He averages 8.7 yards per target, and has averaged nine-or-more yards per target in four of his six seasons. Over 97 career games, Metcalf has caught 438 balls to go along with 48 touchdowns.
On top of all the on-field success, the dude is a physical freak at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds. With the face shield and all the other gear he wears every game, he truly looks like a created player in Madden.
And make no mistake about it, he can get that big body moving.
In 2023, Metcalf was recorded at 22.23 miles per hour while running up field on a 73-yard touchdown against the Cowboys. This was the fastest recorded speed by any player in the league that season.
This is a great example of a trait from the combine showing up in actual game action, as Metcalf ran a 4.33 40-yard dash in 2019 - the fastest for a player over 225 pounds that draft cycle.
Elite speed. Elite size. Elite player.
This is the type of guy the Pats need to do more than kick the tires on.
With him telling Katie Nolan on her "Casuals" podcast earlier this year that New England is “not a desirable place,” giving up whatever is necessary in a trade to acquire him might be the only way of getting this talent into 1 Patriot Place.
And with the head coach who preached an aggressive offseason approach when speaking with the media at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, being a real player for Metcalf would give those words credence early on in Mike Vrabel’s first offseason running the show for New England.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for all the latest on the Patriots’ offseason.