The idea of "any given Sunday" is what makes the NFL so compelling.

Any one team can beat another, and that means at this stage of the season, with the first snap still to be taken, every team can have Super Bowl aspirations.

Sort of.

The Cincinnati Bengals, for example, may have been slightly surprising contenders in 2021, but there remain some teams whose title hopes are so remote as to be non-existent.

For some, this is because they have missed their shot at glory in recent years; for others, the plan is to challenge in seasons to come.

So, this leads us to draw up a preseason tier system, ranking all 32 teams by their Super Bowl windows with the help of Stats Perform AI predictions...

Nowhere near

This is unlikely to be a season to remember for the teams grouped in this category, for a variety of reasons.

The Houston Texans won the AFC South in 2018 and 2019, but the Deshaun Watson saga and two down years have them looking at a rebuild, with the data forecasting just 4.8 wins this year. That at least ranks them ahead of the Atlanta Falcons (3.6 projected wins) and the New York Giants (4.2), while the Texans did gain draft assets in the Watson trade.

The Chicago Bears are the fourth and final team projected to earn fewer than six wins (4.9), with second-year quarterback Justin Fields receiving little help on offense and playing behind an offensive line ranked 31st in pass protection.

Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders rank 31st in terms of skill players – better only than the Falcons – with faith in Carson Wentz long since having diminished. In Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, the Carolina Panthers have two high-draft-pick QBs unlikely to trouble the postseason. The New York Jets are in a similar boat, even if Zach Wilson is still young.

The Detroit Lions might argue they do not deserve to keep such company after a 3-3 finish to last season, but nobody could seriously argue they are title contenders.

Entering contention

If that first group was a mixed bag, so too is the second.

Anyone who has paid any attention to the New England Patriots' preseason would suggest they are very fortunate to be given any hope of success in the near future, but they finished with 10 wins in 2021 – even if that number is projected to shrink to 7.7. Despite a trade for Tyreek Hill, that still ranks the Patriots comfortably ahead of the Miami Dolphins (7.0), although the losing team in their Week 1 meeting will face a long slog of a season.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Philadelphia Eagles are forecast to have 11.9 wins – the second-most in the NFL – after a very strong offseason. But Jalen Hurts, for now, is unproven in the postseason, so Philly fans may have to stay patient.

The San Francisco 49ers are even younger at QB after promoting Trey Lance to a starting role, which explains why the prediction model looks so unfavourably on a team many consider contenders right now. Just 7.1 projected wins speaks to the potentially low floor Lance brings.

NFC West rivals the Arizona Cardinals have to be considered among this group of future hopefuls, with Kyler Murray hugely talented and now committed long term but frustratingly inconsistent, while the Jacksonville Jaguars will hope Trevor Lawrence can follow in the footsteps of the Bengals' Joe Burrow – the number one pick the year before him.

The Los Angeles Chargers, with 9.8 projected wins, have Justin Herbert to lead their charge, while the Cleveland Browns might have been contenders already if not for Watson's suspension, which is enough to limit them to a still strong 9.3-win forecast.

In their prime

The Chargers may have Herbert, but they also have three division rivals who intend to win and intend to win now. Indeed, all four AFC West teams rank in the top half of the league in terms of projected wins, with the Chargers second – behind the Kansas City Chiefs (11.5) and just ahead of the Denver Broncos (9.7) and the Las Vegas Raiders (9.2).

The Chiefs lead the AFC in this regard, although their playoff win over the Buffalo Bills last season came down to a coin flip, and the two are set to be similarly tough to separate this year. Buffalo are down for 11.1 wins.

The two teams coming off a Super Bowl run are of course prominent among the contenders, even if the model has far greater optimism for a Los Angeles Rams repeat than for another Bengals charge. The Rams are backed for a league-leading 12.4 wins and given a 15.3 per cent shot at defending their title, while the Bengals are actually projected to dip below .500 with 8.2 wins.

The Bengals' route to the Super Bowl will be complicated not just by the AFC West and the Bills but also by any return to form for the fit-again Lamar Jackson's Baltimore Ravens, who are counted among nine teams on course for 10 or more wins (10.4).

Also in that group are NFC pair the Dallas Cowboys (11.0) and the Minnesota Vikings (10.9), who may not even be the best teams in their divisions but might be nearing a point when they must seriously challenge or start again, which brings us to...

Last chance saloon

As long as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are the QBs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers, those teams are in with a chance. The question is how long that will remain the case.

Brady is 45, briefly retired this offseason and then missed a chunk of the preseason. Rodgers is 38, has repeatedly been linked with a move away from Green Bay and lost top target Davante Adams ahead of the new season. Still, the Buccaneers rank eighth for projected wins (10.7), with the Packers up in third (11.5).

They are not the only ageing teams in the NFL, however.

The Indianapolis Colts hope they have upgraded in moving from Wentz to Matt Ryan, yet the former MVP is now 37 and last played in the postseason in 2017 – when Wentz's Eagles took the title.

Tennessee Titans QB Ryan Tannehill is a little younger at 34, but of greater concern would be Derrick Henry's durability after the injury that limited to eight games last regular season. The Titans need to make the most of any seasons they have left of the superstar running back going at full tilt.

Missed their chance

Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees won Super Bowls with the Seattle Seahawks, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints respectively, but with all three having now moved on, it is difficult to see those teams plotting a path to the title.

For the Seahawks and the Steelers, this will be their first year without their stalwart QBs, even if things had already gone stale in 2021. Wilson dipped below the .500 mark for a season for the first time in his career, while Pittsburgh were attempting to stay competitive in spite of Roethlisberger rather than because of him.

Still, with both gone – Wilson to Denver and Roethlisberger to retirement – there is a void under center that has not been suitably filled. Seattle also rank 32nd in pass protection, likely leaving Geno Smith hopelessly exposed.

The Saints have had another 12 months to come to terms with Brees' exit, albeit they spent it juggling Jameis Winston, Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill at QB. Winston's season-ending injury doomed the Saints' hopes of contention last year, and New Orleans' outlook for 9.5 wins with the entertaining but erratic former number one pick is at least far more positive than that of the Seahawks (6.2) or the Steelers (7.0).

Regardless, each of these three teams have provided an example in how not to do succession planning. They all could have won additional honours with their departed veterans and now face long waits for further title tilts.

Pete Carroll has heard all the talk that the Seattle Seahawks are in for a season of struggle, but the veteran coach has urged his team to enjoy the thrill of the chase.

Russell Wilson completed a decade as the starting quarterback for the Seahawks before departing in March for the Denver Broncos, and Seattle could find life exceedingly difficult in his absence.

Geno Smith looks to have fended off Drew Lock to emerge as Carroll's preferred QB, but neither looks to possess the quality to plug the gap.

Lock (6.54) and Smith (5.88) were among the five worst quarterbacks (min. 50 attempts) by pickable pass percentage last season, and given Seattle's defense has become one of the league's weakest, it is not without good reason that many expect Seattle to prop up the NFC.

Carroll, who has been head coach of the Seahawks since 2010, is coming up for 72 next week, and his optimism still burns brightly.

His team start at home next Monday, against Wilson and the Broncos.

"I don't care what anybody says. People have been saying stuff about teams for years," Carroll said.

"They don't know. They're just guessing at this point, and then we go and prove it and we see where we are. Win a big game in the opener or struggle and not win a big game in the opener, you've got to come back and get going again and back on track regardless."

Carroll added: "I just think we're chasing instead of being chased, which I think is cool. I think it's exciting."

The coach led Seattle to Super Bowl glory in the 2013 season, but they finished with a 7-10 record last term.

The team's 2022 captains were revealed on Monday, with Tyler Lockett on offense, Quandre Diggs and Al Woods on defense, and Nick Bellore on special teams.

"I love the leadership. I love the speed," said Carroll, quoted by ESPN. "I love our style in all aspects and now we need to go out and show it and live up to what the expectations are. My expectations are very high."

He has no time for preseason pessimism, adding: "I don't see any reason my expectations should change at all."

Geno Smith has been named as the Seattle Seahawks' starting quarterback for their NFL opener against the Denver Broncos after seeing off competition from Drew Lock.

Smith started the Seahawks' 27-26 preseason loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Friday, with Lock subsequently coming in to throw one touchdown pass and three interceptions.

Former New York Jets passer Smith, who moved to Seattle in 2019 after also featuring for the New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers, looked likely to get the nod after a bout of COVID-19 forced Lock to sit out their second outing of preseason, a 27-11 defeat to the Chicago Bears.

Head coach Pete Carroll confirmed his decision after the loss to Dallas, declaring: "Geno's going to start.

"He's going to start the opener, and he's earned it, he's won the job. With the time frames that got messed up for Drew, he just ran out of time."

Smith, 31, has started all three of Seattle's preseason outings, and said: "Obviously I'm thankful for the opportunity and grateful, but I have a lot of work ahead of me, that was my mindset from the start.

"I'm just getting ready to get out there and win games, and this is just step one in that process. None of this will matter if we don't get out and win the games we're supposed to win." 

The Seahawks' season-opening clash with Denver will see them face their former star quarterback Russell Wilson, whose trade took Lock to Seattle earlier this year. 

The new NFL season is right around the corner and, amid the battle for the playoffs and eventual success in the Super Bowl, there's also the fight that nobody wants to admit they may like the idea of.

The team with the worst record in the NFL in the 2022 season will secure the first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft – theoretically allowing the worst teams to pick the best players, continuing a cycle of maintaining competitiveness across the league.

For the past two seasons, that opportunity has fallen to the Jaguars but, while 2022 may not be a fully enjoyable season in Jacksonville, there is at least hope that they can rise off the bottom after two seasons with a combined record of 4-29.

So, if not the Jaguars, then who? Stats Perform has crunched the numbers and given an assessment of four teams who could be in the hunt for the number one pick.

Houston Texans

There are few teams who head into 2022 with such a bleak picture across the entire team and Davis Mills, the quarterback tasked with helming the offense, has weak wide receiver options and an offensive line unable to provide him with much safety.

Last season, Houston were ranked dead last for the total number of first downs (266), and red-zone drives (37), as well as holding the worst yards-per-game average at 278.1 and the highest percentage of three-and-out drives (28.2)

Their first down efficiency, the percentage of first downs picking up four or more yards, was 42.9 per cent, again the worst across the league.

Defensively, things were not much better. When it came to stopping big plays where opponents gained 10 or more yards, the Texans were bottom of the class with 257 given up and allowed the most successful plays in the red zone with 55.9 per cent.

The Texans' opponents averaged 384.4 yards per game in 2021, which was the second-worst tally in the NFL - and Houston also ranked 31st for the average margin of defeat (17.15 pts).

Atlanta Falcons

Having traded away the greatest quarterback in their franchise history in Matt Ryan, the Falcons head into unchartered territory in 2022, but the signs are far from promising.

Marcus Mariota, entering his seventh year in the NFL, has been named as the Falcons' starting quarterback for the forthcoming season ahead of rookie Desmond Ridder, but has enjoyed limited playing time in recent years.

Getting up to speed with the offense will be even harder without Calvin Ridley, handed an indefinite suspension for betting during the 2021 season, though tight end Kyle Pitts and rookie receiver Drake London offer him two physically imposing targets.

Atlanta have also had problems retaining the ball, with the Falcons recording 30 fumbles last season, the most in the NFL - conceding possession on 11 occasions.

Things are worse on defense. In the 2021 season, the Falcons gave up an average of 364.4 yards per game and conceded an average of 27 points per game - the third-worst mark in the NFL behind only the New York Jets (29.6) and the Detroit Lions (27.5). Atlanta's is a talent-poor roster that looks primed to put them in contention for the first pick and a potential shot at a franchise quarterback.

New York Jets

The Jets' situation looks bleak before even diving into the stats, with the franchise 0-6 against division opponents in 2021 and having an overall record of 4-13 last season – only the Jaguars and the Lions held a worse return.

Positive moves were made in the 2022 NFL Draft, New York landing cornerback Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson and defensive end Jermaine Johnson in the first round – but getting immediate contributions from all three may be asking too much.

The Jets were comfortably the worst defensive team in the NFL last season, conceding an average of 397.6 yards per game, the highest in the NFL, and 29.6 points per game totalling 504 overall – the most by some distance ahead of the porous Lions (467).

Vulnerabilities were present across the field, with the Jets giving up an average of 138.3 rushing yards per game in 2021, the fourth-highest in the league, and 259.4 receiving yards per game, the third-highest total.

The Jets will be desperate to improve a turnover differential of minus 13. Doing so will be contingent on 2021 second overall pick recovering from his preseason knee injury and staying healthy and avoiding the poor decisions that were prevalent in his rookie year. He threw 11 of the Jets' 20 interceptions last season. 

If Wilson fails to make those strides, the Jets could be debating whether to replace him with one of 2023's top quarterback prospects with the number one pick.

Seattle Seahawks

Losing Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos is a hit likely to send the Seahawks to the NFC cellar, as their 2012 third-round pick was responsible for moments of magic that kept Seattle's head above water in recent years.

The strength of Pete Carroll's defense had defined his reign in Seattle, but the Seahawks have gradually declined to become one of the league's worst teams on that side of the ball. Seattle conceded an average of 379.1 yards per game in 2021 – the fifth-most in the league.

Seattle have particularly struggled defending the pass, giving up 265.5 yards per game through the air in 2021 – putting them behind only the Baltimore Ravens.

Neither of Wilson's replacements have previously shown any indication of elevating an offense to a level to mitigate the defensive struggles as the franchise legend did so often during his storied spell in Seattle.

Indeed, neither Drew Lock nor Geno Smith can be considered capable of filling the void left by the nine-time Pro Bowl QB.

Lock's interception percentage of 2.8 since entering the NFL in 2019 is the ninth-worst in the league in that time. Both Lock (6.54) and Smith (5.88) were among the five worst quarterbacks (min. 50 attempts) by pickable pass percentage last season.

Simply put, the Seahawks do not possess the quarterback play to allow for the defense to be as bad as it is. It's a transition year in Seattle, and the Seahawks could soon be transitioning to Wilson's long-term replacement with the top pick.

All three Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks threw at least one touchdown pass in Saturday’s preseason opener, but rookie Kenny Pickett had the most impressive performance. 

Pickett threw for a pair of touchdowns, including a 24-yarder to Tyler Vaughns with three seconds remaining to lift the Steelers to a 32-25 victory over the visiting Seattle Seahawks. 

Pickett, the 20th overall selection in this year’s draft out of Pittsburgh, is competing with Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to replace retired two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback. He certainly did nothing to hurt his chances on Saturday. 

He played the entire second half and led a seven-play, 75-yard drive on his opening possession, completing all five of his passes, culminating in a three-yard TD pass to Jaylen Warren.  

His winning throw in the waning seconds capped a five-play, 43-yard drive. Pickett finished 13-of-15 for 95 yards with two scores, and completed 10 consecutive passes at one point.  

Trubisky, who spent last season as Josh Allen’s backup in Buffalo, led the Steelers to a TD on the opening possession with a 90-yard drive. He was four-of-seven for 63 yards, connecting with Gunner Olszewski on a 13-yard scoring strike. 

Rudolph, Roethlisberger’s backup the past four seasons, led touchdown and field goal drives on the first two of his three possessions. His 26-yard TD pass to exciting rookie George Pickens gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead. Rudolph was nine-of-15 for 93 yards.  

One day after reaching a three-year, $72million contract extension with the Seattle Seahawks, wide receiver D.K. Metcalf came clean with his negotiating process. 

"I was going to be here, as much as I bluffed to [general manager] John [Schneider]," Metcalf said. ''I wasn't leaving, just to let you all know. I wanted to be here. I wanted to play here and I'm glad that we got something done.'' 

Metcalf met the media Friday morning with Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider at his side. 

"It was a stressful process, but glad that it’s over," Metcalf said. 

According to reports, Metcalf’s deal includes a $30m signing bonus, the highest ever for a wide receiver. His $24m yearly average salary ties him with Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs as the NFL’s sixth-highest paid receiver. 

"We had goals that we talked about, both on the team side and our side," Metcalf said. "But this is just an amazing moment to where I do get to help my family and the state of Mississippi and the surrounding communities for years to come."

Metcalf made $911,914 last season, when he had 75 receptions and a career-high 12 touchdown catches despite playing through a foot injury for most of the season. 

His 3170 receiving yards are the most by any Seahawk in his first three seasons, while his 29 touchdowns over that span are one shy of the club record.  

"It just hit me as I was sitting up here. I told my parents, and I was just smiling on the phone," he said. "My mom started crying, dad started crying, but I was just smiling. Then when I sat up here, it just hit me like, it’s here. D.K., it’s time for you to step up." 

After he did not take part in last month’s mandatory mini-camp and watched the first two practices of training camp, Metcalf is expected to participate in the Seahawks’ next practice on Saturday.  

"Seeing him to be so much more than just a football player is a great thrill for me," Carroll said. "Everybody talks about how he’s a great athlete, he’s a beast, he’s all this kind of stuff. I don’t like that talk about him. This guy, he’s a complete person and he has so much to offer."

The Seattle Seahawks have locked up standout wide receiver DK Metcalf with a three-year, $72million contract extension. 

Metcalf’s deal includes a $30m signing bonus – the highest ever for a wide receiver – with $58.2m guaranteed. His yearly salary of $24m ties him with Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs for the sixth-highest total among receivers.  

Metcalf has 216 receptions for 3,170 yards and 29 touchdowns in 49 career games since Seattle selected him with the 64th overall pick in 2019 out of Mississippi. He had 75 catches for 967 yards with a career-high 12 TDs last season. 

The new deal keeps Metcalf with the Seahawks through the 2025 season, with his rookie contract set to expire after this season. He doesn’t turn 25 until December and will be 28 years old when his new deal ends.  

He sat out practice at training camp this week after he missed all three days of mandatory veteran mini-camp in June with an unexcused absence.  

Metcalf and the other Seattle receivers will have a new starting quarterback this season after Russell Wilson was traded to Denver in March. Geno Smith and Drew Lock currently are competing for the starting job.  

Pete Carroll says the Seattle Seahawks can be successful without Russell Wilson and revealed Geno Smith is winning the battle to be starting quarterback.

Wilson's departure to the Denver Broncos ahead of the 2022 season is a massive blow for the Seahawks, having led the team to a first Super Bowl triumph in 2013 and a return to the Super Bowl the following year.

Carroll will have to do it without Wilson in 2022, a big year for the team after the 2021 season saw the Seahawks miss out on a playoff spot for only the second time in 10 seasons.

With Seattle not making a move to land a high-profile replacement, having been linked to Baker Mayfield prior to his move to the Carolina Panthers, questions have been asked about how Carroll will fill the void.

The experienced coach is not concerned, though, referencing his years coaching in college football where he had to adjust his side every year following graduations.

"You went to the next guy. You always miss when the guys leave but you can see it (coming) so you start planning for it, you work and you can find success," he told a news conference.

"I'm taking it in stride, but I'm real determined to make it work.

"There's a lot of developing of the players and giving them the background they need and the substance they need to be able to play like they're capable."

The Seahawks have Smith and Drew Lock competing to be the first choice under center and although Carroll says the former is leading the way, he made it clear there is time for that to change.

"Geno is in the lead. He's ahead and he ain't looking back. He's going for it," he added.

"Drew is not going to take a back seat. Something is going to happen. You will not nail me on that [naming his starter]."

The neck injury that cut short Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson's 2021 season has ultimately ended his career. 

Carson decided to retire on Tuesday after five NFL seasons, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. 

The 27-year-old had failed his physical and the Seahawks are officially releasing him with a failed physical designation, which under the collective bargaining agreement allows Carson to receive several million dollars in injury protection benefits. 

Carson had been hopeful of being healthy enough to play this year after being sidelined since Week 4 of the 2021 season with the serious neck injury. 

When healthy, Carson was one of the top running backs in the league, ranking fifth in rushing yards in 2018 with 1,151 yards and fifth again a year later with a career-high 1,230 yards. 

A seventh-round pick by the Seahawks in 2017, Carson finishes his career with 3,502 rushing yards with 24 rushing touchdowns. 

Upon Carson's retirement, Rashaad Penny and rookie Kenneth Walker III will handle the running back duties for a Seattle team that expects to rely heavily on the ground game with Geno Smith and Drew Lock competing for the starting quarterback job after Russell Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos. 

Penny led the Seahawks with 749 rushing yards last season and his average of 6.29 yards per attempt was the highest in the NFL among all players with a minimum of 100 carries. 

The chairwoman of both the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, Jody Allen, said in a statement on Tuesday that the teams are not for sale at this time. 

There had been reports that an offer was made to buy the Trail Blazers, but Allen's statement dispels any rumours a sale is imminent. 

''As chair of both the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks, my long-term focus is building championship teams that our communities are proud of,'' said Allen, who has overseen both teams since her brother Paul died in 2018.

''Like my brother Paul, I trust and expect our leaders and coaches to build winning teams that deliver results on and off the court and field. As we've stated before, neither of the teams is for sale and there are no sales discussions happening.'' 

Paul Allen's will called for both teams to be sold and the proceeds be given to philanthropic efforts, and Jody acknowledged she plans to honour his wishes, though not at this time.

''A time will come when that changes given Paul's plans to dedicate the vast majority of his wealth to philanthropy, but estates of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to wind down. There is no pre-ordained timeline by which the teams must be sold,'' Jody said. 

Paul Allen purchased the Trail Blazers in 1988 and bought the Seahawks nine years later. Jody Allen has been the trustee for her brother’s estate since the Microsoft co-founder's death.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll didn’t seem overly concerned that star wide receiver D.K. Metcalf did not attend this week’s mandatory minicamp – subjecting himself to a $93,000 fine in the process – and said he expects a new contract to get finished this offseason. 

Metcalf, who is in line for a huge extension as he enters the final year of his rookie contract, stayed away from camp this week in a somewhat surprising decision. He did attend the voluntary portion of team’s workout program earlier this spring amid his unsettled contract situation and his recovery from foot surgery. 

Because his absence to the mandatory portion of camp was unexcused, he accumulated fines worth over $93,000 for missing all three days, but when Carroll was asked if the team plans to impose those fines, he declined to answer, citing his policy on not publicly discussing such matters. 

Carroll did, however, express the desire to have Metcalf back with the team, and said he had faith in general manager John Schneider's abilities to get a deal done.

"A decision had to be made," Carroll said. "We missed him. He had done a nice job of contributing, being part of everything we had done and then he is just not here.

"So I can’t say much about for what he hasn’t done here, but we’d love to have him with us. We've been through this for years, you know [with other star players] – and it's a challenging time. 

"We've had so many high-profile guys that have gone through this process – and how's that worked out for us? We figured it out in time.

"[Schneider] is on it, and he's as experienced as you can get at handling this stuff, and D.K.'s got great representation, and D.K. is a heck of a kid.'' 

Metcalf is due to earn about $3.99million for the upcoming season, and he figures to be in line for an extension similar to those awarded to new Philadelphia Eagle A.J. Brown, and reigning Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams, in excess of $20m per year. 

The 24-year-old has not missed a game since Seattle selected him with the 64th overall pick in the 2019 Draft, and has accumulated 216 receptions for 3,170 yards with 29 touchdowns.  

It appears Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf has taken notice of the mega-deals handed out to some of the NFL’s top pass-catchers this offseason – and he believes it is his turn.

Metcalf did not attend the Seahawks’ first day of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The absence was unexcused, meaning Metcalf is subject to a fine of $14,775 for skipping the first day, as well as additional fines of $29,550 and $44,325 if he misses the second and third days this week, potentially totalling over $93,000.

Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Metcalf has been actively seeking an extension this offseason, although contract talks have clearly not been progressing in a fashion that satisfies Metcalf and his management. The big-play receiver is recovering from surgery on a foot injury he played through for most of last season.  

Metcalf’s decision comes after Seattle general manager John Schneider expressed dismay at how the wide receiver market had skyrocketed because of massive contracts signed by Tyreek Hill with the Miami Dolphins (four years, $120m) and Davante Adams with the Las Vegas Raiders (five years, $141m).  

This led to speculation that Metcalf could be traded, but while the team did reportedly receive calls on the star wideout, the Seahawks told teams they weren’t interested in parting ways with the 24-year-old.  

Metcalf has 216 receptions for 3170 yards and 29 touchdowns in three seasons with the Seahawks since he was selected 32nd overall in the 2019 draft out of Mississippi. His 29 TDs are tied for fifth in the NFL since the start of the 2019 season.  

Russell Wilson is determined not to be caught up in the emotion of his Week 1 return to Seattle after leaving the Seahawks for the Denver Broncos.

Wilson's 10-season career on the Seahawks, which included their Super Bowl XLVIII success, ended this offseason with his trade to the Broncos.

The 2022 NFL schedule release then threw up an early treat, with the Broncos visiting Lumen Field on September 12, in Wilson's first regular season game for the team.

But for all the fond memories the nine-time Pro Bowler has of his team as a Seahawk, his focus will be on a first win in Broncos colours.

"I think it's going to be an exciting time," Wilson told reporters. "Obviously, Seattle's meant the world to me over the past 10 years.

"It's a special place, special place to play, Lumen Field. I have a high regard for all those guys over there and what they do.

"I think, for me, it's non-emotional, though – it has got to be non-emotional.

"You've got to be able to go into it with an understanding that it's just ball – and also understand that there's been amazing times. There's been a lot of touchdowns there, won a lot of games there, so I had a great experience.

"It'll always be a special place in my heart forever. So, for me, it's about going up there and trying to play the best football for our football team here and try to go win."

Crucially, Wilson is set to get in Denver what he was denied in Seattle, an offense shaped entirely around his ability at QB.

New Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett said: "We want to build this thing completely around him and make sure that he's comfortable and watch him come alive."

Pete Carroll does not expect the Seattle Seahawks to trade for Baker Mayfield or another quarterback.

The Seahawks will head into the new season with uncertainty under center for the first time since before they drafted Russell Wilson in 2012.

Wilson was the team's undisputed starter for 10 straight seasons, winning one Super Bowl and losing another, until he was traded to the Denver Broncos this offseason.

The Seahawks received Drew Lock in that trade, but he struggled in three seasons in Denver, while Geno Smith – Wilson's understudy – is an alternative option.

Although Seattle did not draft a QB, they could still have made a big move for a new man, with Mayfield available after the Cleveland Browns signed Deshaun Watson.

But Carroll appeared to rule that possibility out as he outlined the Seahawks' approach to the trade market, albeit not discussing Mayfield directly per league rules.

"We're always competing," the head coach told 93.3 KJR-FM.

"I'm not saying anything you didn't think I was going to say, but fortunately that's always been the way we've operated, and it fits again. So, we're looking.

"I don't see us making a trade for anybody at all. I don't see that happening.

"But we're certainly going to continue to be open to chances to help our club, and meanwhile we're just going to be battling and competing our tails off.

"There's always possibilities, so we keep open to that."

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks will contest the NFL's first regular-season game to be held in Germany.

Munich's Allianz Arena was already known as the venue for the historic fixture, with Germany joining the United Kingdom and Mexico in hosting NFL regular-season games.

Now the matchup is set, with Tom Brady and the Bucs taking the role of home team against one of their NFC rivals.

The Bucs and Seahawks will face off on November 13, when Tampa Bay will likely be heavy favourites following Seattle's 2021 struggles and their subsequent trade of star quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason.

Tampa Bay suffered defeat in each of their three visits to London, though all of those games took place before they acquired Brady in 2020.

The Seahawks beat the then-Oakland Raiders 27-3 in their sole game at Wembley in 2018.