RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks are expected to sign wide receiver DK Metcalf to a three-year contract extension that will be worth up to $72 million, according to two people familiar with the deal.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the signing. ESPN first reported the deal, which includes $58 million guaranteed. The deal runs until the 2025 season, when he will have another shot at becoming a free agent.
Metcalf is the latest in a string of top pass catchers to lock down with new deals this offseason. He is entering the final year of his rookie contract after being a second-round pick by Seattle in 2019 and signing him was a priority for the Seahawks this offseason.
Metcalf had been watching for the first two days of Seattle training camp, and head coach Pete Carroll said after practice Thursday there was nothing new to report on the contract talks.
A day earlier, Carroll was optimistic a deal was on the horizon.
“We’re here now. There’s a lot of work going on, just like right now,” Carroll said Wednesday.
Closing the deal may have taken longer than expected and encountered a few bumps along the way, including when Metcalf skipped the mandatory Seattle minicamp in June. But Metcalf now has contract certainty going forward as the Seahawks embark on an offensive rebuild after the offseason trade of quarterback Russell Wilson to Denver.
Metcalf joins a long list of wide receivers who have cashed in big contracts this offseason. Cooper Kupp, AJ Brown, Stefon Diggs, Terry McLaurin, Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, Chris Godwin, Mike Williams and Michael Gallup have all signed extensions with a potential total value of over $50 million.
Metcalf earned $911,914 last season, a year he had a career-high 75 receptions and 12 touchdowns despite suffering a foot injury for most of the season.
His breakout season came in 2020 when Metcalf became a full-time starter and finished the year with 83 receptions for a franchise-record 1,303 yards and 10 touchdowns, and was selected as a second-team AP All- Pro.
Metcalf was expected to earn around $3.99 million in the final year of his rookie contract. Metcalf had been around the Seahawks for off-season training stints while recovering from foot surgery, but was surprisingly absent when the team gathered for their mandatory minicamp in early June. The message was clear that Metcalf did not want his contract status to persist and that he wanted long-term stability.
Carroll agreed that a deal had to be done before training camp arrived. And while that didn’t happen, Metcalf only missed a few days of fieldwork.
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