Will the Pittsburgh Steelers add a significant playmaker to their roster moving forward into the offseason? I can’t answer that question with certainty, but I sure hope they do, and I hope said player can play the outside wide receiver position at that. After the draft ended, the name of Seahawks WR DK Metcalf seems to now be the new potentially hot target for the Steelers, if you believe one Benjamin Allbright of KOA Radio in Colorado. I don’t know what to make of that report, but with nothing else to write about on this Wednesday night, I thought I would indulge everyone with a post on Metcalf and the Seahawks’ current situation when it comes to them possibly trading him.
They called about Aiyuk and Sutton and have been rebuffed, at least with opening talks. Called about DK, I don’t believe a trade would get done there until after june first (if one got done at all).
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) April 30, 2024
Let’s first start off by looking at the Seahawks’ presumed current salary cap situation. Before I do that, however, I must let everyone know that I do not follow their salary cap situation intimately. That means there’s going to be a lot of assumptions on my part based on what Over the Cap and the NFLPA public salary cap report says right now about the Seahawks.
According to Over the Cap on Wednesday night, the Seahawks have just $1,616,170 in available 2024 salary cap space to work with. I know for a fact that they have already accounted for the offseason workout bonus placeholder amount in that total, which is not yet reflected on the NFLPA salary cap page, which by the way, hasn’t been updated for any team in several days. For whatever it’s worth, the NFLPA salary cap report shows the Seahawks currently $2,387,573 under the cap. Either way, the Seahawks seem to be crunched for 2024 salary cap space right now.
Now, barring the Seahawks cutting any significant players, they don’t seem to have many ways of creating additional salary cap space right now, other than maybe restructuring a few players. According to Over the Cap, the notable restructuring candidates right now include Metcalf and DT Dre’Mont Jones. Combined, those two restructurings would clear just $10.875 million in 2024 salary cap space. That’s some additional space, but it would require some cap can-kicking.
As far as cut candidates go, sure, there’s a few of those candidates. I can’t, however, sit here and say who may or may not be in jeopardy of such a fate right now because I obviously don’t follow the Seahawks’ closely. We’ll just have to watch and see how it plays out in that department.
Keep in mind that the Seahawks still need to sign their draft picks and undrafted free agents and based on projections by Over the Cap, they will need roughly $3 million or so in free salary cap space to do so. That’s room they don’t appear to have at the time of this post.
So, back to Metcalf. If you use Over the Cap as a guide, Metcalf is set to earn a base salary in 2024 of $13 million. Because of his $12 million option bonus already being paid in 2023, the Seahawks would incur a dead money charge of $23 million if they traded away Metcalf prior to June 1, according to former NFL agent Joel Corry, of CBS Sports. Metcalf’s currently scheduled to have a 2024 salary cap charge of $24.5 million in 2024, so trading him before June 1 seems very unlikely to happen because there would be just $1.5 million in salary cap savings recognized.
So, what about a post June 1 trade of Metcalf like Allbright hinted at in his tweet? Well, if that were to happen, the dead money the Seahawks would eat in 2024 would lower down to $11.5 million. That would produce $13 million in cleared 2024 salary cap space for the Seahawks. They would, however, incur a 2025 dead money charge of $11.5 million if they trade Metcalf after June 1.
In conclusion, Metcalf isn’t likely to be going anywhere until after June 1, if indeed the Seahawks are even looking to move him, which we obviously don’t know for sure is something they are considering.
So, what if the Steelers did ultimately trade for Metcalf? Well, they would need to be able to absorb Metcalf’s transferring salary cap charge of $13 million under their salary cap, which as of right now, wouldn’t be a problem at all after the restructuring of the contract of OLB Alex Highsmith ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.
If, indeed, the Steelers were to trade for Metcalf, I would imagine they would then turn around and restructure his contract. Doing so, and assuming no void years were used, the Steelers could lower Metcalf’s 2024 salary cap charge by $5,937,500. That would be the path that makes the most sense. However, doing such a restructuring on Metcalf would result in his 2025 salary cap charge being $23,937,971, which wouldn’t be a big deal should the NFL salary cap number escalate again in a nice manner next year.
So, does all the math work for the Seahawks and the Steelers for such a trade involving Metcalf? Yes, at least from where I sit it does.
As far as what the trade compensation for Metcalf would be, that’s another bag of dirt to get into. I would imagine the Seahawks might want a second or third-round draft pick for him, but that’s just a guess. Maybe they would take less if there wasn’t much of a trade market for Metcalf post June 1. I will let all of you reading this post discuss the trade compensation aspect of Metcalf.
Obviously, Metcalf has played before with new Steelers QB Russell Wilson, and I would imagine the two wouldn’t mind reuniting in Pittsburgh if it came down to it. The Steelers could obviously use a player of Metcalf’s caliber on the outside as well. By the way, Metcalf is still only 26 years of age and he’s already registered 372 catches in the NFL for 5,332 yards and 43 touchdowns with 25 of those touchdowns coming via Wilson, by the way.
To recap, could the Steelers make a post-June 1 trade for Metcalf work? Absolutely. Are the Seahawks in enough of a dire salary cap situation where they might consider trading Metcalf? On the surface, it certainly seems so, by my educated guessing.
Now, I’m not saying that the Steelers will ultimately trade for Metcalf, or that the Seahawks will ultimately trade Metcalf to any team. However, it certainly seems like something that’s plausible all the way around. Unfortunately, we will likely need to wait until past June 1 to find out the answer to all questions related to Metcalf and him potentially being traded to any team.
