The Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks came together on a major trade during the 2025 NFL season. DK Metcalf was acquired to be the new long-term No. 1 wide receiver for the Steelers.

After playing the first six years of his career with the Seahawks, Metcalf will be looking to break out with his fresh start. He found a lot of success in Seattle, but was never able to become the top-three wide receiver that many thought he would become.

Now, the question becomes, will Metcalf be catching passes from future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh? Or, will he be going to play alongside another questionable situation under center?

Throughout his first six years in the NFL, Metcalf has caught 438 passes for 6,324 yards and 48 touchdowns in 97 games. He is one of the most impressive physical talents in recent NFL history and the Steelers are paying him to be among the league’s best at his position.

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Following the trade to acquire him, Pittsburgh gave Metcalf a massive five-year, $150 million extension. By that amount of number, the Steelers are clearly expecting him to take his game to another level.

One former Seahawks’ wide receiver has now spoken out with shade about Metcalf. That former receiver is none other than Bryan Walters.

“I’ve been very vocal about kind of my thoughts on DK as a wide receiver… and you know, maybe I’ll be a little nice I guess, but slightly overrated,” Walters said.

“I think he’s gonna do well in Pittsburgh, but at the same time I just think that they really revamped this wide receiver room to fit that (Klint) Kubiak scheme and a lot of guys that are better route runners and guys that just kinda complement each other. I think (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) and Cooper Kupp are gonna be so fun to watch together.”

Seattle will be a new-look football team after trading both Metcalf and quarterback Geno Smith. Sam Darnold will be working with the wide receiver tandem of Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, which Walters is a huge fan of heading into the 2025 season.

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Omar Khan, the Steelers’ general manager, has spoken out glowingly about Metcalf since the trade went down.

“Size. He [DK Metcalf] did a press conference, right? Yeah. I mean, you saw him. He’s a playmaker. I’m really enjoying getting to know him,” Khan said. “I think you guys will too. He has a desire to win and be great, and I love that about him, and I am just excited about what he’s going to bring to the club.”

At 27 years old, Metcalf is ready to start a new chapter of his career. This kind of shade and criticism will simply give him extra motivation to put up career numbers in 2025, hopefully with Rodgers throwing the ball to him.

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