SEATTLE – Following the final game of the 2024 season, Tyler Lockett said no matter what happened he would “always be a Seahawk through and through.”
Lockett said those words at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, during a news conference after the season-ending 30-25 win over the Rams that sounded like a preemptive goodbye to the only team he has known in an NFL career that began when Seattle drafted him in 2015.
Lockett went into the game thinking it might be his last as a Seahawk while hoping that maybe it wouldn’t be.
But Wednesday arrived with the news Lockett had been dreading – that, for now, he is no longer a Seahawk in name.
Seattle announced his release Wednesday, which was accompanied by a social media post from Lockett stating: “really enjoyed being in Seattle! I met so many great people and captured so many great memories! The 12’s really make this place meaningful! Although, my time on the Seahawks may have run its course I’m thankful for everything!!God gets all the glory forever!!!!”
The move was not a surprise, as Lockett had one year left on his contract, due to make a $10 million base salary as well as another potential $7 million in roster bonuses.
Lockett’s release means Seattle saves all that money in cash and in salary-cap space – $17 million total. That included a $5.3 million bonus if Lockett had been on the roster on March 17. Seattle now has $33 million in cap space, according to OvertheCap.com.
Lockett’s release came a dame after the Seahawks released four players to get in better cap position before the NFL free-agent signing period next week.
The Seahawks, who began the week close to $7 million over the cap, are now more than $30 million under it. The cap space is necessary to achieve offseason objectives such as re-signing some of their free agents (notably middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV) and improving the offensive line.
Lockett’s cap hit for the 2025 season of $30.895 million was the third highest on the team and fourth highest of any receiver in the NFL.
Seattle coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider spent last week at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.
Schneider said early in the week that he planned to meet with Lockett’s agent, Andrew Kessler, and added that he couldn’t say if Lockett would be with the team in 2025.
Being released now means Lockett becomes a free agent immediately and can sign with another team before Wednesday, when players whose contracts run out become free agents and can officially sign with other teams.
There will be many more moves to come as the Seahawks assemble their roster for the 2025 season.
But few other moves the Seahawks make this offseason figure to resonate as much as the release of Lockett. He emerged as one of the most consistent and dependable on the field and one of the most accommodating and gracious off it since arriving as a third-round draft pick in 2015.
Lockett ranks second in team history behind Hall of Famer Steve Largent in receptions (661), receiving yards (8.594) and receiving touchdowns (61). Lockett also ranks second in punt-return yards (1,078) as well as average yards per kickoff return (25.1) and kickoffs returned for touchdowns (two).
He’s 10th in franchise history in games played (161) and is a three-time winner of the Steve Largent Award, voted on by players and given to the player or coach who best exemplifies the spirit, dedication and integrity of the Seahawks.
He won the award the past two seasons and in 2021.
Lockett’s stats declined in 2024, however, as he turned 32 in September and saw second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba emerge as the other primary receiving threat alongside DK Metcalf.
Lockett’s 49 receptions were his fewest since his third season with the team in 2017 as was his 600 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Lockett’s age, changing role and heavy cap hit and salary all led to his release.
Lockett, though, said several times late in the season he hoped to play in 2025 and beyond, whether it was with the Seahawks or another team.
“Yeah, I plan on playing next year,” Lockett said Jan. 2.
One reason, he said, was so he can share the experience with his first child, a daughter due to be born in May.
“I get to enjoy football, I get to play as long as I can, and I get the chance to be able to take pictures with my kid and just different stuff like that to where they might not ever really understand it but as they get older they’ll be like, ‘Oh, you did play football’ because I was able to take pictures with them,” he told the Seattle Times in December.
Illustrating why Lockett was so beloved, he publicly rooted for Smith-Njigba to break his team record of 100 receptions in a season.
Smith-Njigba, maybe fittingly, ended up tied with Lockett.
“It means a lot to hear his words, and for him to be right beside me is definitely cool,” Smith-Njigba said late last season. “He has meant everything to me. To come in and have Tyler Lockett, one, a great person, and the ultimate teammate, the ultimate competitor, I couldn’t have walked into a better situation. He’s a guy that I love, and I’m just happy that we both wear the same jersey.”
Assuming he follows through with plans to continue to play, Lockett will wear another jersey in 2025. But true to his words, he will surely always be considered first and foremost a Seahawk, undoubtedly set to be enshrined in the team’s Ring of Honor.
“For me, man, I just wanted to be able to play this game as long as I can, glorify God in it and I have been able to play 10 years thus far and it’s really been amazing,” he said late in the season when asked about his Seahawks’ legacy. “I saw Doug (Baldwin) and Jermaine (Kearse) a couple weeks ago at one of the awards things that we had, and it was crazy to hear them say like, man, I played with them what? Seven to 10 years ago, and so you never know how long you’ve really been in this game until you start to see older faces and you start to be able to realize, man, it’s been six years with DK, so I’m just grateful to just be part of one organization just to be able to make it through a decade.”