Only days after being granted permission to seek a trade, DK Metcalf is on the move.
Unfortunately for Patriots fans, that move won’t be a cross-country flight to Logan Airport.
Instead, Metcalf is heading to Pittsburgh, as the Steelers reportedly send a 2025 second-round pick to the Seahawks in exchange for the 27-year-old, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
In addition to a new team, Metcalf gets a new contract, as Rapoport added that the two-time Pro Bowl receiver is receiving a five-year extension worth $150 million.
Metcalf is a name that circulated the Patriots offseason rumor mill over the last few weeks, with Boston Herald reporters Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed writing this about Metcalf last 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.
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.
Unfortunately for Patriots fans, this version of the New England front office was unable to right the wrongs of front-office-past, as Metcalf heads to a hated AFC rival for 2025.
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