Nov 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) makes a reception against the San Francisco 49ers in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

Less than two weeks have passed since the Seattle Seahawks sent star wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a blockbuster trade, yet his fate in the Emerald City may have been sealed months beforehand.

Yes, there's the financial aspect of the trade that has been repeated ad nauseum. With their cap situation, the Seahawks were almost certainly not going to give him the five-year, $150 million contract that the Steelers did.

However, there was far more to the trade than just money.

The 2024 season brought numerous changes for the Seahawks, including a new head coach in Mike Macdonald and a new offensive coordinator in Ryan Grubb. At the very least, Metcalf did not mesh very well with Grubb.

During an appearance on the "Get Got Pod" with former Seahawks running backs Marshawn Lynch and Mike Robinson, Metcalf was asked about incident during a Week 6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers where he took an assistant coach's headset and started speaking into it. The star wideout confirmed that he was speaking to Grubb about a grievance with the game plan.

"On that particular day, we were playing the 49ers," Metcalf said. "They got this DB I've been going against since he was - we came (into the NFL) together. He played with the Giants so I went against him twice already, and then he was with the 49ers. So I'm like, OK, on third down you have to run past him early because they're just going to sit at the sticks.

"On third-and-4, we call all hitches. Like, that's not running past him. He's waiting on it. So when he sat and knocked the ball down, I come to the sideline like, let me just get the headset. Maybe he don't need to hear it from you or he may have missed the text. So I said, 'Grubb, can we please run by these guys?' Like, they are sitting at the sticks on third down. In order to open up the underneath stuff, they got to be threatened deep first."

Cameras captured this incident during the game, and many assumed that Metcalf was speaking to Grubb. Now, we finally know what Metcalf really said to his coordinator.

Apparently, this wasn't the only time a situation like this occured. Metcalf said he and fellow receiver Tyler Lockett, who the Seahawks released days before trading Metcalf away, worked with the coaching staff on game planning early in the season. They felt their suggestions weren't being taken into consideration, and after this game, they stopped that practice all together.

Grubb made the jump from college to the NFL last season, and sadly, it was clear that he wasn't ready for the change. He tried to run a similar air raid offense to what he ran at schools like Washington and Fresno State, but the offense suffered as a whole, particularly on the ground. The Seahawks moved on from Grubb at the end of the season, and he's now at Alabama.

Metcalf is onto a new chapter as well, and based on his comments, it seems like it's for the best.

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