Conjuring a Blockbuster Trade that Would Deliver Russell Wilson, D.K. Metcalf

A report specualted that the Seahawks could trade D.K. Metcalf for a first-round pick, so that got me thinking

Something a little thought-provoking popped up Saturday night.

The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar suggested the Seahawks could trade WR D.K. Metcalf for a first-round draft pick.

Hey, now.

The Eagles have three first-round picks. The Seattle Seahawks don’t have any and will be sitting on their hands as 40 players come off the board before they get a chance to add to a team, with the 41st overall pick, that went 7-10 in a division where three of the NFC’s seven playoff teams from just a season ago reside.

The Seahawks have just six picks in this year's draft and have to know they won't get better by sitting still.

Most of the offseason, so far, a trade between the Eagles and Seahawks centered around quarterback Russell Wilson, never mind that Wilson has a no-trade clause in his contract and Philadelphia isn’t on the list of teams he would agree to be traded.

Metcalf’s potential availability opens the possibility of all sorts of things.

First, Seattle would have to agree to trade him, and that would be a big decision because it would make Wilson extremely unhappy.

Perhaps the Eagles could make a deal for both Metcalf and Wilson, who may agree to come to Philadelphia if that's where his WR is headed.

The Eagles would probably have to trade two of their three first-round picks this year and maybe one later in the draft. 

Perhaps they could get away without trading any picks in the 2023 draft if they were to include, say, Jalen Hurts and Andre Dillard and/or Jalen Reagor, too.

Maybe the Seahawks would want Dillard, a former first-round pick, who is currently Jordan Mailata’s backup at left tackle after using Duane Brown at left tackle last year. Brown is a free agent and turns 37 this summer.

Andre Dillard :: Ed Kracz/SI.com Eagle Maven

Both Metcalf and Dillard are in the final years of their contracts.

That’s the rub for the Eagles – Metcalf's contract. Also, Wilson's salary cap hit in 2022 is $37 million and rises in 2023.

Financially, the Eagles would have some wrangling to do to make it all work.

The trade would work better with just Metcalf, and maybe the Seahawks make a deal with another team involving Wilson. Or make it some complex three-team trade, with Metcalf landing in Philadelphia and Wilson in, say, Tampa or Pittsburgh.

Metcalf is scheduled to make a base salary of $3.9 million in 2022 and a raise would be in order.

He hasn’t missed a game in his career, playing in all 49 of them with 216 catches for 3,170 yards, and 29 touchdowns.

He’s just 24 and has the size and speed the Eagles crave at 6-4, 235 pounds, and he clocked a 4.33 in the 40 at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine.

Giving Metcalf a new contract, say, three years for $40 million, maybe more, that would keep him in Philadelphia through 2025 would also align well with DeVonta Smith, whose contract runs through 2024.

Acquiring Metcalf gives the Eagles a chance to make a wrong a right after they picked J.J. Arcega-Whiteside seven picks ahead of Seattle taking Metcalf in the 2019 draft’s second round.

So far, just about every mock draft has the Eagles selecting another pass-catcher in the first round, which would be the third straight year they will have done so.

NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, in his 2.0 mock draft, has them taking Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson, who is 6-0, 192, with the 19th overall pick.

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“I would love Garrett Wilson in there,” said Jeremiah during a Zoom call that ran nearly two hours on Friday. “I think he's the best receiver in the draft in my opinion, and he can do everything. 

"He is a complete wide receiver. We talk about the speed guys in this draft, and we talk about the physical play-above-the-rim guys, I think he gives you a little bit of both of that with what he can do after the catch, as well. I think he'd be a really nice complement.”

Jeremiah also likes USC’s Drake London, who is 6-4, 210.

“From just a pure size skillset standpoint, you'd say Drake London would be kind of the power forward that they don't necessarily have there opposite of Devonta," said Jeremiah. "I think he's exceptional...I know the guy is big, and when the ball goes up in the air, he comes down with it. 

"He's a really intriguing player, and everything that I've been told about him from a character, competitiveness, makeup stuff, it's just completely off the charts.”

Wilson, London, and even Jameson Williams are good first-round candidates, and maybe South Alabama’s Jalen Tolbert would be a good second-round option, but trading for Metcalf would give the Eagles an already NFL-proven commodity.

Finding a way to get Wilson in the same package would be something special, but, even without Wilson, Metcalf alone would be ideal.

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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation EaglesToday and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.