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Brady HendersonESPN
RENTON, Wash. — The Seattle Seahawks and star wide receiver DK Metcalf have agreed to a three-year, $72 million extension that includes $58.2 million in guarantees, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday.
The guaranteed total includes a $30 million signing bonus, the source said, the highest ever for a wide receiver.
The deal brings a quick end to Metcalf’s two-day “hold in” and locks up one of the top performers of the Seahawks’ future. The 24-year-old Metcalf, who had one year and just under $4 million left on his rookie contract, is now signed through 2025.
The $24 million new-money average of his extension makes Metcalf the Seahawks’ highest-paid player, surpassing safety Jamal Adams at $17.5 million, and cements him as the new face of the franchise now that Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner are gone.
Metcalf and Stefon Diggs of the Bills are now tied for having the sixth-highest annual average salary among NFL receivers.
The three-year length of the extension is shorter than the Seahawks typically prefer for big-money second contracts, and it puts Metcalf on track to become a free agent at age 28. It also came with a shorter wait than some of the Seahawks’ recent megadeals that weren’t finalized until well into training camp.
Metcalf reported to camp on time Tuesday but didn’t take part in the first two practices as his agent, Tory Dandy, and the Seahawks continued to negotiate. Coach Pete Carroll made it clear that his nonparticipation was contract-related and not due to Metcalf’s surgically repaired foot.
Metcalf’s future in Seattle seemed somewhat uncertain earlier this offseason, after general manager John Schneider publicly expressed sticker shock at some of the megadeals that caused the receiver market to skyrocket. The Seahawks received calls from teams interested in Metcalf in the wake of those comments, but Seattle told suitors it wasn’t interested in trading him, according to a source.
Despite the trade speculation and the rising WR salaries, the Seahawks expressed confidence both publicly and behind the scenes that they’d get a deal done with Metcalf before the season. That was the case even after Metcalf’s unsettled contract prompted the receiver to skip last month’s mandatory minicamp with what the team deemed to be an unexcused absence.
Carroll noted then that the Seahawks have a strong track record of extending players they want to keep long-term since he and Schneider arrived in 2010.
“I’m not less optimistic, no,” Carroll said in June, after Metcalf’s minicamp no-show. “We’ve been through this for years. It’s a challenging time. We’ve had so many high-profile guys that have gone through this process, and how’s that worked out for us? We’ve figured it out in time. John is on it. He’s as experienced as you can get at handling this stuff and DK’s got great representation and DK is a heck of a kid. But there’s no way of avoiding the first time of this, the first time of what it feels like and the experience of it and all of that. … He’s a remarkable person. He’s a wonderful player. He has so much to offer the world and all, I just don’t want him to miss this opportunity to where we can’t figure it out. So we’ll do everything we can.”
Metcalf has a combined 216 catches for 3,170 yards and 29 touchdowns over his first three seasons. He made his lone Pro Bowl in 2020 after breaking Steve Largent’s single-season franchise record with 1,303 receiving yards. After suffering a career-threatening neck injury in college, Metcalf hasn’t missed a game in his NFL career.
He played most of last season with a broken bone in his foot that required surgery. Carroll said Wednesday that Metcalf passed his physical and is fine.