DK Metcalf reports for Seahawks training camp

Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf does not yet have a new contract from the team.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t be with the Seahawks when training camp begins on Wednesday. A league source confirmed to The Seattle Times an ESPN report that Metcalf reported for camp on Tuesday along with the rest of the team’s players.

How much Metcalf will do on the field when practices begin Wednesday afternoon, though, remains to be seen.

While his new contract is sorted out, Metcalf could follow the lead of Jamal Adams and Bobby Wagner in past years when each held what have come to be termed “hold-ins” – reporting for camp but not doing anything on the field or anything that would risk injury until a contract is signed. Adams, for instance, did not take part in on-field drills until signing his contract last year on Aug. 17.

Metcalf is entering the final season of his original rookie deal, due to make a salary of $3.986 million in 2022.

There was some conjecture Metcalf could hold out since he did not attend the team’s mandatory minicamp in June. The team did not give Metcalf an excused absence for missing minicamp, which meant he could be fined roughly $93,000. Coach Pete Carroll said at the time he wished Metcalf had shown up.

“It was a decision he had to make,” Carroll said in June. “… We’d love to have him with us.”

Surely factoring into Metcalf’s decision to report for training camp is that he could have been fined $40,000 a day for every day of training camp he held out (such fines can be waived). Also, if a player who is entering the final year of his rookie deal does not report – as Metcalf is – he won’t accrue a season toward free agency. So, Metcalf had significant motivation to report.

It’s known the two sides have had conversations throughout the offseason and that Metcalf is not yet signed is not necessarily a surprise given the team’s history. Many significant extensions have been completed during the early stages of camp, such as Adams a year ago, Wagner in 2019, Kam Chancellor in 2017 and Wagner and Russell Wilson in 2015.

It’s thought Metcalf is angling for a contract at least in the range of the four-year, $100 million deal the Eagles gave A.J. Brown, also a fourth-year receiver who was a teammate of Metcalf’s at Ole Miss.

Metcalf, who turned 24 in December, has 3,170 receiving yards in his career, the most for any player in Seahawks history in their first three seasons in the league.

Seahawks place four on physically unable to perform list, finish signing draft picks

A day before the first practice of training camp, the Seahawks made a flurry of moves, including signing their last three remaining unsigned draft picks, placing four players on the physically unable to perform list and waiving linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven with a failed physical designation. If he clears waivers, he will revert to Seattle’s injured reserve list but will have to sit out the 2022 season.

The three draft picks signed were second-rounders Boye Mafe and Ken Walker III and fourth-rounder Coby Bryant. That means all nine draft picks are now signed. Mafe is an edge player, Walker a running back and Bryant a cornerback. All picks now get standard four-year contracts with dollar amounts slotted based on where they were drafted. Mafe’s deal is worth roughly $9.3 million, Walker’s $9.2 million and Bryant’s $4.6 million.

The four players placed on the PUP list are cornerback Tre Brown, linebacker Jon Rhattigan, tackle Liam Ryan and linebacker Tyreke Smith.

Brown and Rhattigan are each still recovering from knee surgery last season while Ryan and Smith, both rookies, are recovering from what the team said were injuries suffered during the offseason program. Ryan suffered a lower leg injury while it’s unclear the nature of the injury to Smith, a fifth-round pick out of Ohio State.

Players who go on the PUP list in the preseason can come off it at any time. Brown is viewed as a contender to start at cornerback if he gets healthy after starting three games last season as a rookie before suffering an injury in a November game against Arizona.

Burr-Kirven, a former standout at Washington, suffered an ACL injury in a preseason game last August and missed the 2021 season. He was then scheduled to undergo another cleanup surgery in June, according to coach Pete Carroll.

The news, though, also meant that several players who were out with injuries in the spring are healthy, notably defensive back Marquise Blair and guard Gabe Jackson. Blair suffered a knee injury in October and missed the rest of the season, the second straight year he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Jackson, who started 16 games last season, had offseason knee surgery after missing the final game of the 2021 season.

The Seahawks also reportedly added one player to their roster as Pro Football Focus reported Seattle will sign free-agent tight end Jake Hausmann, who played at Ohio State. Hausmann spent last season on practice squads with Detroit and the New York Giants before being waived by the Giants in May. He was one of a handful of players who had tryouts with the Seahawks this week.

Seattle still had three open spots on its 90-man roster as of Tuesday afternoon but is likely to fill those with camp beginning Wednesday.