The aging veteran has seen his production decline significantly this season as second year man Jaxon Smith-Njigba has taken on a bigger role, but Lockett isn’t ready to hang it up just yet.
When the final whistle sounds of the Week 18 showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks, it will mark the beginning of the first full offseason for Mike Macdonald as head coach. There will, undoubtedly be several significant questions that need to be answered, as the team will need to come into compliance with the salary cap, while also addressing holes on the roster.
One question that many fans have assumed would answer itself is regarding tenth year veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett, with believing that Lockett would likely retire after this season. However, in speaking with the press Wednesday, Lockett addressed the 2025 season, and it appears that, at least for now, retirement is not his preferred option.
New: Sunday may be Tyler Lockett’s last game in a #Seahawks uniform, but he says it won’t be his last in the NFL.
“I plan on playing next year.”
On a selfless season from a Seahawks legend, a true team player who set the stage for the rise of JSN: https://t.co/GlhaNyYkvs pic.twitter.com/QNhQ9Bb8vP
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) January 1, 2025
Lockett would count $30.895M against the salary cap under his current contract, of which $13.895M would be dead money that would stay on the team cap if Lockett is traded or released. The other $17M is made up of a $10M base salary, a $5.3M roster bonus due in March and $1.7M in per game roster bonuses for each game for which he is active during the 2025 season.
So, now begins the speculation on whether there might be some kind of reworked contract that would be attractive enough to both sides to keep Lockett in Seattle in 2025, or if fans could see him finish out his career with another franchise, as has been the case with other Seahawks legends, including the likes of Richard Sherman and Bobby Wagner.