With Bobby Wagner gone again, the title of most-cherished veteran on the Seahawks has passed onto wide receiver Tyler Lockett, who’s going into his 10th season in Seattle. For a minute there it looked like Lockett was going to get cut this offseason. However, he agreed to a signficant paycut that allowed the team to save a good amount of cap room for 2024.
While that saved Lockett from getting the axe this year, it also makes it likely that this coming season is going to be his last with the Seahawks. Going into March next year Lockett will be 32 years old and the team will be able to save $17 million in cap room by cutting him, according to figures at Over the Cap.
If that’s the case then Seattle will probably try to find his replacement in the 2025 draft class. That’s exactly what happened in Matt Miller’s new 2025 mock at ESPN. He has the Seahawks taking Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in Round 1 (No. 11 overall).
“Seattle has one of the NFL’s best receiving corps, but it’s also a unit poised for a breakup. Tyler Lockett — who is entering his age-32 season — and DK Metcalf both have potential outs in their contracts after this coming season. Yes, second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will factor into the Seahawks’ future plans, but adding a true No. 1 receiver with size is a sneaky need. McMillan is massive at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, and his catch radius seems unlimited. He grabbed 90 passes for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns last season and is poised for another huge year with quarterback Noah Fifita returning.”
McMillan is a much different mold of wide receiver than Lockett, with a build more resembling that of DK Metcalf, checking in at 6-foot-5, 209 pounds. He has put that plus size to good use. Over the last two seasons, McMillan has totaled 129 catches, 2,104 yards and 18 touchdowns for the Wildcats. Here’s a look at every target he saw in 2023.
McMillan is generally ranked the second-best receiver in his class behind Missouri’s Luther Burden III.