Bears should not pursue a trade for WR DK Metcalf |
With the NFL’s salary cap increase going into 2025, the Chicago Bears have more room to go after some of the league’s top receivers this offseason, including D.K. Metcalf with the Seattle Seahawks.
Metcalf will be going into the final year of his current contract with the Seahawks, putting him in a similar position to wide receiver Keenan Allen when the Bears traded for him last offseason. If Seattle kept him on the roster, he would have a cap hit of nearly $32 million. This makes him a prime trade candidate and someone Chicago should consider acquiring. The two-time Pro Bowler consistently puts up solid numbers, recording at least 900 receiving yards every season since he entered the NFL in 2019. His second season in the league marked his first Pro Bowl season when he recorded 1,303 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions. It was his first of three 1,000-yard seasons. Metcalf also tends not to miss too many games due to injury. Historically, Metcalf’s biggest trouble is his conduct on the field. He has been fined 14 times for over $200,000 throughout his NFL career. Most of those fines resulted from unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness. This is very atypical conduct of players that the Bears have pursued as they want to develop a winning culture. Someone who frequently loses their temper on the field does not help to build culture. Furthermore, despite Metcalf’s end-of-season numbers, his game-to-game performance is more erratic than usual for a wide receiver. In the 2024 season opener for Seattle, he only had 29 receiving yards. Metcalf was targeted 14 times the next week and registered 129 receiving yards. A few weeks later, despite getting targeted 11 times, he only managed to catch three passes and had 48 receiving yards. The following week, Metcalf had 99 receiving yards and a touchdown. When he played the Bears this past season in Seattle’s 6-3 win, he put up 42 receiving yards. It marked his third game of the season with under 45 receiving yards. If Chicago were to trade for Metcalf, he would replace Keenan Allen. While Allen did not have his typical season last year, he is more reliable than Metcalf when he is healthy. He would also probably be less expensive, as Chicago would most likely take a large cap hit if they acquired Metcalf in a trade. Metcalf would also cost more draft capital than Allen did at the time of his trade. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero recently estimated that Metcalf could be worth anywhere from a first-round pick to a fourth-rounder. A first-round pick is too high for Metcalf, given he is not putting up elite numbers. Thus, if that is what Seattle wants, then Chicago should not pursue a deal for him. However, Chicago has two second-round selections - No. 39 overall from the Carolina Panthers and No. 41, which is the Bears’ pick. Metcalf could be worth one of these picks, although Seattle could throw in a sixth- or seventh-round pick to make the deal a little better for Chicago. Should the Bears pursue a trade with Metcalf, even if it could cost them a second-round pick? No. The deciding factor is his problems with unsportsmanlike penalties and unnecessary roughness. While the Chicago Bears have had a lot of issues in recent years, repetitive problems with player conduct on the field has not been one of them. For the most part, Chicago Bears players are respectful on the field, a value that should be held in the highest regard. Also, other wide receivers are potentially available for trade, like Cooper Kupp with the Los Angeles Rams and Deebo Samuel with the San Francisco 49ers. These players may offer more upside than Metcalf.
