NFL trade rumors: Lions offer for DK Metcalf falls short of Seattle asking price

DK Metcalf may be available, and a possible trade offer the Detroit Lions could make to get him has been put out there.

The Seattle Seahawks have said they intend to give wide receiver DK Metcalf a contract extension, but they also used that “i” word with Russell Wilson, right before trading him. So the idea Metcalf  is available, for the “right price” as reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, is not a reach.

It has been reported Seattle turned down a trade offer from the New York Jets for Metcalf that included the 10th overall pick. So the bar, at least in terms of a first-round draft pick this year as a starting point, seems to be set higher than that.

On the notion the Seahawks may want to move up within the top-10 of the first round, the idea of them dangling Metcalf to the Detroit Lions was put out there. But purely in terms of the Lions pursuing Metcalf, a trade proposal has been outlined.

Proposed Lions offer for DK Metcalf looks to be short of what Seahawks want

Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report has written some potential trade proposals for Metcalf. Here’s what he had for the Lions, along with part of the case for Detroit to make the offer.

"Trade Package: Lions send this year’s 32nd and 97th overall picks, as well as next year’s first-round pick (via Rams), to the Seahawks for MetcalfThe Detroit Lions entered last season with the league’s worst wide receiver corps. Fortunately, fourth-round rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown made an immediate impact by leading the team with 90 receptions for 912 yards and five touchdown catches.While St. Brown is a talented slot receiver capable of being a productive piece of the offensive puzzle, he isn’t a true No. 1 target.The Lions lack a true difference-maker in the passing game. The free-agent signing of D.J. Chark doesn’t change that fact."

Two first-round picks and a third-round pick that’s in the top-100 this year is draft capital that might get Seattle’s attention as an offer for Metcalf. But this year’s first-rounder is already late, and if the Rams are good again next season the 2023 first-rounder will be a late one too. But if the Seahawks turned down the 10th overall pick, without knowing what else the Jets offered (if anything), pure pick volume might not be the answer to getting Metcalf in a trade.

Of course there’s also the matter of Metcalf’s contract. He’s entering the final year of his deal, and the wide receiver market has exploded with the deals Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill got recently. That’s a factor for the Seahawks as they consider trading him (or not), and a consideration for any team that may have interest.

I’m admittedly not as high on Metcalf as a lot of other people. But the price in a trade has seemingly been set, at least for now.

Metcalf also has a contract coming to him that would put him on a financial level his production can’t back up moving forward, wherever he’s playing. So the Lions can’t really talk themselves into all the costs attached to a trade for him, even if it’s an exciting possibility.