While the Seahawks made two big moves Wednesday — agreeing to sign veteran receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and rush end DeMarcus Lawrence — some of the most intriguing activity was happening behind the scenes.

On what was the first day of the new league year, the Seahawks were putting the finishing touches on the signing of quarterback Sam Darnold and the trade of DK Metcalf to the Steelers.

While both had been agreed to earlier, neither could become official until Wednesday.

Neither had been announced as of Wednesday evening. But Darnold had been expected in town to sign his deal with an announcement coming Thursday, as well as announcements on the trades of Metcalf and Geno Smith.

Metcalf, in fact, took to social media early Wednesday evening to release a thank you statement to Seattle via Instagram.

Metcalf wrote in part that “it’s never easy to say goodbye, and leaving this city that took a chance on me 6 years ago is tough. But this isn’t the end — it’s just the next chapter. No matter where I go, I’ll always carry the 206 with me.’’

Maybe most intriguing, though, were the rumors that continued to circulate surrounding a player who could help Seattle replace Metcalf — longtime Rams star Cooper Kupp.

Confirming what had been speculated for weeks, the Rams officially released Kupp after eight years with the team shortly after the new league year began at 1 p.m. Wednesday, having not been able to pull off a trade.

Kupp’s age (he turns 32 on June 15), recent injury issues (he’s played just nine, 12 and 12 games the last three seasons) and hefty contract (including a cap hit of $29.78 million this season) were why the Rams wanted to trade him — and why no other team took the bait.

The minute he was released, though, teams were said to be lining up to talk to Kupp, with Seattle confirmed by a source to be right at the front.

The Seahawks’ interest seemed obvious from the start because Kupp is from Yakima and played at Eastern Washington, Seattle needs receivers to replace Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and the Seahawks’ new scheme features some characteristics similar to that of Sean McVay’s with the Rams. Seattle’s passing game coordinator, Jake Peetz, was with the Rams in 2022 and 2023.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network added further fuel to the Seattle-Kupp rumors when he mentioned the Seahawks along with Jacksonville (new coach Liam Coen overlapped as an assistant with Kupp in LA for four years) and Houston (new Texans OC Nick Caley spent the last two years with the Rams) as three teams likely to try to sign him.

The Patriots (tons of cap space and need) and Packers (head coach Matt LaFleur was the Rams’ OC in Kupp’s first year in 2017) were also rumored interested.

As Rapoport noted, Kupp seems sure to have to take a big pay cut from the $23.3 million average per year of his Rams deal to maybe $11-12 million a year.

“Seahawks have some familiarity there scheme-wise, system-wise and personnel wise from the Rams,’’ Rapoport said, adding he thought a Kupp decision “happens pretty quickly.’’

But as of early evening Wednesday, Kupp’s future was still undecided and indications were he was not due to make a decision until Thursday morning at the earliest.

If the Seahawks were to reel in Kupp to pair with Valdes-Scantling they might be done making significant moves at receiver.

Those two, along with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, would give Seattle a solid veteran trio to take into the offseason, with Jake Bobo also still on the roster, with the Seahawks then likely to use one of their 10 picks to add another pass catcher or two in the draft.

Where Seattle still needs help is on the offensive line.

Through the first three days of free agency, Seattle’s lone addition to what is generally considered its weakest position group has been getting an agreement with five-year veteran Josh Jones to a one-year deal worth up to $4.75 million.

Jones can play both guard and tackle but seems most likely to help Seattle fill its depth needs at tackle behind starter Charles Cross on the left side and Abe Lucas on the right.

While adding only Jones, Seattle has seen two members of last year’s line — starting left guard Laken Tomlinson (Houston) and backup tackle Stone Forsythe (Giants) — agree to sign elsewhere while also cutting tackle George Fant last week.

Not that the Seahawks haven’t tried.

Sources have confirmed the Seahawks were involved in initial negotiations with Colts guard Will Fries, who instead agreed to a five-year deal worth up to $88 million with the Vikings on Tuesday, and ready to stay in it for the long haul.

Fries was regarded as the top guard available in free agency after the Chiefs placed a franchise tag on Trey Smith.

But one concern for the Seahawks’ was Fries’ injury history — he suffered a fractured tibia in the fifth game last season and missed the rest of the year.

Unrestricted free agents could not make visits to team facilities until after the new league year began at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

The Seahawks were said hoping to bring Fries in for a physical before finalizing a contract.

Fries didn’t want to wait and the Vikings and other teams were willing to reach an agreement without an in-person physical.

Indications are that Seattle would have been willing to spend handsomely on Fries, assuming a physical worked out.

When Fries decided otherwise, Seattle was left to explore other offensive line free agent options.

Those included Eagles guard Mekhi Becton and Bears guard Teven Jenkins, both of whom have been linked in the rumor mill to the Seahawks.

However, indications are neither is seriously on Seattle’s radar.

Two other linemen some thought could be targets for Seattle also agreed to terms elsewhere Wednesday — Green Bay center Josh Myers (Jets, one year, $3.5 million) and Detroit guard Kevin Zeitler (Tennessee, one year, $9 million).

That could leave Seattle again left to bring in a linemen or two in the second and third waves of free agency.

That might not excite the part of the fan base eagerly hoping for Seattle to improve its offensive line.

But the Seahawks seem to be among the team who feel there is a lot of good offensive line talent in the draft that can help and Seattle also still has faith that the young players on its roster — such as 2024 third-round pick guard Christian Haynes — can thrive, particularly under a new offensive coaching staff that includes longtime line coach John Benton. Still, an addition or two to the line is likely.