The big question on everyone’s mind is centered around the finances of moving DK.
The big news Tuesday was set to be the release by the Seattle Seahawks of ten-year veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett. However, it was not long after the Hawks announced the release of Lockett and Lockett thanked fans for their support during his time with the team that the big story suddenly changed.
That change, of course, was the request from DK Metcalf, one of the most productive wide receivers in NFL history through the first six seasons of their career. for a trade. While some fans rejoiced, hoping to be rid of Metcalf and his antics, others were displeased that the team could potentially be losing two of its top offensive weapons ahead of the 2025 season.
Regardless of how one feels about a potential trade of Metcalf, the implications both on and off the field would be real, including the salary cap impact. So, to get right to the heart of what a trade would mean for the cap situation of the Hawks, the starting point is what Metcalf’s contract looks like going forward by year:
- 2025: Base salary: $18M, Signing Bonus Proration: $9.875M, Option bonus proration: $4M
- 2026: Signing Bonus Proration: $2.375M (potentially subject to accelerated recognition)
- 2027: Signing Bonus Proration: $2.375M (potentially subject to accelerated recognition)
- 2028: Signing Bonus Proration: $2.375M (potentially subject to accelerated recognition)
In order to understand the cap implications of trading Metcalf, it is first necessary to understand how signing bonus proration is handled. If a player is moved off a roster by trade or release prior to June 1, all future signing bonus prorations accelerate into the current cap year. If a player is moved off a roster by trade or release after June 1, then the signing bonus proration for the current year stays and the signing bonus proration for all future seasons is recognized against the cap in the next league year.
What that means for the Seahawks, is that if Metcalf were to be traded prior to June 1 this year, the Hawks would have to recognize $21M of dead cap in 2025, and then carry no cap charge for Metcalf in 2026. The breakdown of that $21M in dead cap would be:
- Signing Bonus Proration from 2022 extension: $7.5M
- Option Bonus Proration from 2023 option: $4M
- Signing Bonus Proration from 2024 base salary to signing bonus restructure: $9.5M
Now, if for some strange reason the Seahawks were to wait until June to trade Metcalf, the dead cap would be slightly different, as they would recognize the 2025 portion against the cap this season, with the rest hitting the cap in 2026. That breakdown would be as follows:
- Signing Bonus Proration from 2022 extension: $7.5M (hits cap in 2025)
- Option Bonus Proration from 2023 option: $4M (hits cap in 2025)
- 2025 portion of the Signing Bonus Proration from 2024 base salary to signing bonus restructure: $2.375M (hits cap in 2025)
- 2026, 2027 and 2028 portions of the Signing Bonus Proration from 2024 base salary to signing bonus restructure: $7.125M
Combining all those dead cap hits yields the exact same amount of dead cap, $21M, with the only difference being that $7.125M would be pushed onto the 2026 cap after the first $13.875M charge would be recognized in 2025.
Moving on from what the dead cap hits would be to how much cap space would be created, trading Metcalf on or before June 1 would free up $10.875M of 2025 cap space, while trading Metcalf after June 1 would free up $18M of cap space in 2025 at the expense of $7.125M in 2026.
Obviously, nobody seems to expect this situation to drag out into June, as doing so would remove the ability of the Seahawks to add draft capital in the 2025 NFL Draft, which would have already taken place in April. Further, John Schneider could be worried he might not be around to use picks in the 2026 draft if the ‘Hawks miss the postseason for the third year in a row and the fourth time in the past five seasons.