Tyler Lockett’s NFL future is drifting toward a decision point, and the former Seattle Seahawks star is still without a team as training camps draw closer.
For a player whose game was built on burst and precision, the decline has been hard to miss. Lockett’s production has been sliding for years, and the elite quickness that once made him such a problem for defenses is no longer there. At this stage, it looks increasingly like no club is planning around him for 2026.
Seattle is certainly not in position to bring him back. The Seahawks’ receiver group is already packed with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, Cooper Kupp, and Tory Horton, leaving no real room for a veteran like Lockett. His value to the team on the field faded three years ago, even if his standing off the field remains as strong as ever.
That makes the way his Seahawks exit played out even tougher to swallow. Seattle had to move on after the 2024 season because his cap hit was too steep for the level of production he was giving them, and then the team went on to win the Super Bowl the very next year. Lockett never got that shot.
His 2025 season only underscored where things stand. After being released by Seattle, he spent time with the Tennessee Titans, where he was underused and eventually asked for his release. He then landed with the Las Vegas Raiders and reunited with Pete Carroll, but the numbers were modest: 32 catches and 9.1 yards per reception.
Still, plenty of Seahawks fans would love to see one more chapter, even if it’s only a one-day contract so Lockett can retire as a Seahawk. Drafted in the third round in 2015, he made an immediate impact as a kick returner before developing into a true WR1.
By the end of his Seattle run, Lockett sat second in franchise history in receiving yards with 8,594, second in touchdowns with 61, and second in receptions, all behind Steve Largent. Jaxon Smith-Njigba may someday climb past those marks, but what Lockett meant to the Seahawks and to the Pacific Northwest is already set. He was a remarkable player and even better human being, and he deserved a cleaner ending than this.
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For Baltimore, the ripple effect is especially interesting. The Ravens are currently valued at around $6 billion, but a Seahawks-style premium could make that figure look conservative in a hurry, even though Steve Bisciotti has given no indication he wants to sell. Bisciottis long-term hold on the team has kept Baltimore off the market, but this sale suggests the practical price of even a non-selling franchise may be climbing faster than the public estimates have been willing to admit. [Read more 🡒]
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Philadelphia is now part of that conversation, even if there is no sign Jeffrey Lurie intends to sell. The Eagles have already had minority stakes traded at a valuation just north of $8.3 billion, and a full-control transaction would almost certainly push the number higher, with the market now making a case for a figure well above that. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Could Make Their Biggest Win Now Gamble Yet
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The bigger question is whether the price would be worth it. Seattle has draft capital to work with, and Las Vegas could be open to dealing from its rebuild, which makes the framework of a move easier to imagine than most big-name trades. Even so, any serious push would require the Seahawks to decide how far they want to go in win-now mode, and whether this is the kind of gamble that changes their ceiling or just drains resources they may need elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]