Jim Moore: Surely the Seahawks trading DK Metcalf is unthinkable — but is it really?

At Sports Radio KJR, I work with Jason Puckett, who puts people he dislikes or thinks are crazy on a “barge,” shipping them off to the Pacific Ocean, hoping to never be seen again.

I’m joining those barge passengers for suggesting that the Seahawks might want to consider trading DK Metcalf. I’m not even saying they SHOULD trade him, just saying they should explore all of their options with Metcalf. I think Puckett himself should board his own damn barge for not being open to a healthy debate on the subject.

Why would you trade your best player? I understand how stupid that sounds on first blush. But recent developments in the NFL and with the Seahawks have made this a topic worth discussing.

Entering his fourth season, Metcalf is eligible for a contract extension. Given his outstanding production, featuring an average of 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns a season, along with 14.7-yards-per-catch, Metcalf was thought to be in line for a new deal in the neighborhood of $20 million a year. After all, Tyler Lockett got a four-year, $69 million deal last offseason, and Metcalf in 2021 overtook his teammate as the Seahawks’ No. 1 receiver.

But recent new deals for receivers re-established the market, starting with Christian Kirk, regarded as a No. 2 or 3 receiver in Arizona, getting an average of $18 million a year in a four-year contract from Jacksonville. Then at the top of the market, Davante Adams, after being traded to Las Vegas, got $28 million a year from the Raiders. Not even a week later, after being traded from Kansas City to Miami, Tyreek Hill scored a $30 million-a-year deal with the Dolphins.

So if I’m Metcalf’s agent, I don’t want to hear anything under $25 million from Seahawks general manager John Schneider. And I’m probably asking for something closer to Adams’ deal if not Hill’s, basing that on Metcalf’s age (24) and projections for a player who has yet to enter the prime of his career.

If you’re weighing the pros and cons of keeping an explosive receiver like Metcalf, the pros would seem to be 35-point favorites over the cons. You could easily turn it into a barge-worthy conversation, as in: “Who in his right mind would want to part with a dynamic playmaker, who when teamed with Lockett, gives the Seahawks one of the best pass-catching tandems in the league?”

But if you’re Schneider, you still have to think about it because of escalating receiver salaries and the chance that paying Metcalf $25 million or more wouldn’t be worth it in Pete Carroll’s offense. Don’t we all pretty much know by now that Carroll favors a ball-control offense featuring a punishing running game instead of anything even resembling an Air Raid attack?

Yes, Carroll likes to take shots downfield, where Metcalf certainly shines, but will he stand out as much as he has in the past with Drew Lock at quarterback instead of Russell Wilson? And let’s face it, there’s absolutely no chance that Carroll is going to “let Drew cook.” He’ll want Lock to be a conservative game manager, the kind of QB that Carroll believes he can win with just as often as he did with Wilson. Whether you believe that or not, that’s what the head coach thinks, guaranteed.

Then again, wouldn’t it still be nice to have Metcalf as part of that offense, to help Lock in his development, a big target to provide a good gamble on 50-50 balls on 3rd-and-15? Of course it would. But what if signing Metcalf prevented the Seahawks from shoring up weaknesses elsewhere? They still need a starting left tackle — and with every passing day, Duane Brown’s leverage increases. Right tackle is also a position of need.

Think about that for a second. You could be elated that the Seahawks retained Metcalf with a four-year, $110 million contract, but what if Lock is harassed all season long behind a subpar offensive line and doesn’t have Wilson’s elusiveness? Then you’ve got a receiver who would be worth $27.5 million playing for the Chiefs or another team that likes to chuck it around, but not the Seahawks.

Though you like to think he will mature with time, Metcalf has shown some diva tendencies. I’m just wondering how he’ll feel if the Seahawks are losing while he’s averaging four catches a game for 44 yards during some random stretch of the season. Will he be OK with that and trust in Carroll’s system more than Wilson did?

If you traded Metcalf, you would get salary cap flexibility and a haul in return. The Packers received a first-round and second-round pick in the 2022 draft from the Raiders. The Chiefs received a whopping five picks - a first, second and fourth in 2022 and a fourth and a sixth in 2023. Based on my vast research — none — I’m just flat-out guessing that Metcalf would fetch something in between the Adams and Hill trades.

You’ve got at least two teams — the Packers and Chiefs — who need to replace their departed superstar receivers to give their superstar quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes top targets, helping increase Metcalf’s trade value.

Adams and Hill have done more than Metcalf to this point, but longevity and the potential for 1,500-yard and 15-touchdown seasons are firmly in DK’s favor down the road.

It’s not as if the Seahawks would be hopeless in the pass-catching department if Metcalf is traded. Lockett would resume his role as the No. 1 receiver. Tight end Noah Fant, a former first-round draft choice acquired in the Wilson deal from Denver, would be the likely No. 2 receiver. Freddie Swain hasn’t done much in the way of thinking he’s a solid No. 3 guy, but 2021 second-round draft pick Dee Eskridge was slowed by injuries last year and could emerge as a legitimate threat this season.

Plus if the Seahawks opt to go with a receiver with their No. 9 pick in the draft, they could choose among Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave from Ohio State, Drake London of USC, Jameson Williams of Alabama or Treylon Burks of Arkansas. In most mock drafts I’ve seen, a receiver is not chosen in the first eight picks.

Even though Carroll told reporters at the owners’ meetings this week “there’s no way I could imagine playing without (Metcalf),” from my spot on the barge, I think he could be persuaded otherwise.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on 950 KJR-AM, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.