Three years ago, John Schneider had a decision to make: Extend DK Metcalf with a top-of-the-market deal or trade him.

Even though the Seattle general manager admitted to being shocked at the skyrocketing numbers for receivers back then (they were just hitting $20 million per year), Pete Carroll really wanted to keep Metcalf, so Schneider paid the talented receiver $24 million per year.

Now Metcalf is again approaching the end of his contract and it’s deja vu all over again for Schneider.

This week at the Combine, Schneider was asked a couple of times about trade speculation surrounding Metcalf. The general manager basically evaded the topic.

Asked where things stand with Metcalf, he said: “I’m not sure. He’s on our team.”

Then he told PFT: “I’m not sure where (trade speculation) comes from.” He called it “agent talk.”

But he never said he would not trade Metcalf nor that he was not taking calls on him. Then came word that he indeed has fielded trade inquiries this week, specifically from Green Bay and New England.

We have always thought Schneider would be open to a good deal for Metcalf. The question is: What offer would be good enough for Schneider to remove one of his top playmakers and leave Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the only receiver of note? (As we all know, Tyler Lockett is likely gone, too.)

The trade market for good veteran receivers has been all over the place the past few years. The 49ers just agreed to take a fifth-round pick from Washington for Deebo Samuel. Last year, Buffalo got just a second-rounder for Stefon Diggs (also flipping two Day 3 picks to Houston). But, in 2022, A.J. Brown netted a first and third for Tennessee, and Tyreek Hill brought Kansas City a lot more than that in a blockbuster with Miami.

Corbin Smith reports that Schneider would want the Packers’ first-rounder (the 23rd overall pick), an early Day 3 pick and either Romeo Doubs or Dontayvion Wicks to help fill the receiver void. It sounds like the Packers might be considering it.

A trade also would return close to $11 million in cap space for Seattle.

The alternative is to pay Metcalf around $30 million in another extension and hope Klint Kubiak will get maximum bang for those bucks. After all, his plan for featuring Metcalf in the passing game was one of the big reasons Mike Macdonald hired him.

“We want to get the ball to DK,” Macdonald said. “We want to make sure that he’s a focal point of our offense, for sure.”

Metcalf has caught 66 passes in each of the first two years of his current extension. He has scored 13 touchdowns. What the Seahawks surely want out of him is something akin to his 2020 season, when he caught 83 balls for 1,303 yards and 10 scores. That seems to be the minimum production you would need out of a $30 million receiver — most of the half dozen guys getting that money are catching 100 passes a year.

If Schneider does not think Metcalf is going to hit that level of performance, the GM needs to weigh whether he can replace Metcalf and get another good player as well. Would the aforementioned 3-for-1 deal be satisfying enough?

Having two first-rounders certainly would give Schneider some flexibility. He could use one on a guard and one on the best player on his draft board.

Good receivers also are pretty easy to find in the draft, whether in the first round or on Day 2 (where the Hawks landed Metcalf).

We’re OK with either choice — as long as the results justify the decision. If they pay Metcalf, they have to get him the ball 100 times a season and he has to score in the double digits. If they trade him, they have to make at least two of the assets they receive count.

Whatever he decides, Schneider needs to get it right.