The Chargers need to upgrade the wide receiver room this offseason, and one way they could do so is by trading for a two-time Pro Bowler.
ESPN asked NFL team executives, scouts and personnel figures to make some offseason predictions, and they see Los Angeles trading for Seahawks’ DK Metcalf.
“The Seahawks can still get good value for him, and he could pair with Ladd McConkey for a good inside-out tandem,” an NFL coordinator said of a move to the Chargers. “[Justin] Herbert to Metcalf would be scary. I think [Los Angeles] will be looking to help the quarterback in a big way.”
On paper, the Chargers trading for Metcalf sounds great. The 27-year-old Metcalf is a big-time playmaker coming off a season where he nearly topped 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth time in his career.
However, what it would come down to is the compensation for him.
Metcalf is signed through the end of the 2025 season, so the Chargers would have to trade and likely sign him to an extension. The price would probably have to be right because it’s uncertain if general manager Joe Hortiz would be willing to give up high draft capital.
Metcalf is familiar with wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal, who served as Seattle’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In those seasons, Metcalf surpassed 1,000 receiving yards and had a career-high yards per reception in 2023 (16.9 YPC).