Steelers WR DK Metcalf, singer Normani engaged; why he should thank Russell Wilson

DK Metcalf may never have a bigger week in his life.

And the two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver knows it.

On Sunday, Metcalf agreed to a trade from Seattle to Pittsburgh that included a new five-year contract worth $150 million.

On Wednesday, Metcalf went even bigger, proposing to his longtime girlfriend, pop/R&B singer Normani, in front of family and friends in Houston.

Furthermore, Russell Wilson — Metcalf’s teammate on the Seahawks from 2019-21 — and Wilson’s wife, actress Ciara, set up Metcalf and Normani, asking the two of them separately to come to a party with the intention of them meeting.

“They was playing cupid, but it worked,” Normani said, according to People Magazine, “If you could trust a couple [to set you up], that would be the couple.”

It’s a lot. So forgive Metcalf if he’s got more on his mind than who the next Steelers starting quarterback is going to be. Whatever happens — Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph or someone else — he’s good with it.

The vibe Metcalf felt when he talked to Pittsburgh president Art Rooney II, coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan on Sunday put him at ease.

“They made me feel like they had the right decision with who was going to be throwing me the football,” Metcalf said Thursday, shortly after his trade to Pittsburgh became official. “I’m not making the decision in the quarterback room. So I’m just going to try to do the best of my abilities to, help whoever [they land on].”

While the Steelers are set to reunite with Rudolph on a two-year deal, he’ll almost certainly return to the same role he filled during his five seasons in Pittsburgh from 2019-23, when he was a moderately successful backup.

The aggressive play to land Metcalf and then sign him to the largest contract the franchise has ever handed out to someone not named Ben Roethlisberger seemed to hint that another major move was in the offing.

Maybe not.

The door is still open for Rodgers, though the four-time NFL MVP appears to be in no hurry on where he wants to play in 2025, or if he even wants to play at all. Wilson, who ended last season as Pittsburgh’s starter, met with the Cleveland Browns on Thursday and is expected to do the same with the New York Giants on Friday.

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the near term. Metcalf understands he’s in it for the long haul, which is one of the reasons he’s not concerned.

Metcalf did speak to Wilson this week, but it was only so Wilson could congratulate Metcalf on his engagement. Asked if Wilson had ever shared any thoughts about his season in Pittsburgh, Metcalf said Wilson simply told him he would “love it” if he ever found his way to the Steelers.

Following a whirlwind week in which Metcalf requested a trade from the suddenly rebuilding Seahawks, he now finds himself in the place Wilson once belonged. The imposing 6-foot-4, 235-pound Metcalf is confident he will fit right in on a team that is searching for a way to emerge from a near-decade of being good but hardly great.

“I’m a physical receiver, you know, big shout out to my pops who was a lineman in this league for a little bit,” said Metcalf, whose father Terrence played guard and tackle for the Chicago Bears in the mid-2000s. “So he instilled that in me. And I just try to play the game a different way.”

Metcalf has spent the past six seasons becoming one of the most dynamic and reliable receivers in the NFL. He’s never finished with fewer than 900 yards receiving, and the 48 touchdowns he caught in Seattle are third on the franchise’s career list.

Is DK Metcalf the perfect fit for the Steelers’ offense?

The 27-year-old declined to get into specifics about why he wanted a change of scenery, instead thanking the Seahawks for giving him “a chance to become who I am in this league.”

Metcalf is one of the more difficult matchups in the NFL, a player with speed to run away from defenders and the size to run over them. He joins a wide receiver group that includes talented if temperamental George Pickens, who is a lightning rod both on the field and off.

Given his résumé, his presence and the size of his contract, Metcalf understands he will be asked to be a leader. It’s a role he plans to embrace, though he has no interest in forcing it.

“The leadership skills will come as they need to be,” he said. “But we’re here to win games. We’re here to win as many games as we can.”

Metcalf isn’t the only experienced voice joining the Steelers. Pittsburgh officially signed six-time Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay Jr. on Thursday, less than two months after Slay won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia.

The 34-year-old Slay believes he’s still got some gas left in the tank and is eager for what he expects to be “competitive” practices lining up against Metcalf and Pickens.

Whose arm those passes will come from is anyone’s guess, though Rudolph does bring a mix of familiarity and stability. He went 8-4-1 in 13 starts in his first go-round with the Steelers, including a 3-0 run to end the 2023 season in which he helped lead Pittsburgh to the playoffs.

Yet Pittsburgh moved on after the season, totally revamping its quarterback room. It appears set to do it again, with Rodgers perhaps the best option still available after he was released Wednesday following two turbulent years with the New York Jets.

Rodgers would see at least one familiar face in the locker room if he signs with the Steelers in cornerback Brandin Echols. Pittsburgh signed Echols to a two-year deal on Thursday.

Asked if he was going to help recruit the future Hall of Famer to Pittsburgh, Echols smiled.

“Hell yeah,” Echols said. “Tell his ass to come on.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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