Seattle Seahawks

Projected Cap Space: $56.3 million

Draft Picks: 4

• 1st (No. 32)
• 2nd (No. 64)
• 3rd (No. 96)
• 6th (No. 211)

Notable Free Agents: 

• WR Rashid Shaheed
• OLB Boye Mafe
• RB Kenneth Walker
• CB Riq Woolen
• DB Coby Bryant
• CB Josh Jobe
• LB Drake Thomas (RFA)
• OL Josh Jones
• WR Jake Bobo (RFA)

Top Three Needs

1 – Cornerback

Both of Seattle’s starting outside corners this past year, Woolen and Jobe, are scheduled to be free agents. The Seahawks aren’t short on cap space by any measure, ranking sixth in the NFL in projected room in 2026. They can keep whoever they want with creative accounting, but with a few players due for astronomical raises like WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, CB Devon Witherspoon and perhaps QB Sam Darnold a little down the line, they’re expected to be a little cash-conscious. Jobe and Woolen were solid last year but the Seahawks will have a walkaway number that both guys could easily hit on the open market. 

It would make a lot of sense for the Seahawks to bring one of those two back and make cornerback a major priority with their draft assets. The room is shallow outside of Witherspoon, Jobe and Woolen, though star rookie S Nick Emmanwori‘s ability to play nickel means they can carry one less body. 

2 – Outside Linebacker

Seattle embodied the idea that a team can never have too many pass rushers this past year, as a room that went four players deep powered an elite defense all season and a dominant Super Bowl performance. Plenty of teams will copy that model this offseason and Seattle will continue to make the position a priority. Mafe is a pending free agent and there’s a decent chance another team pays him more than Seattle is willing to, even though he had just two sacks on the season. 

Veterans Uchenna Nwosu and DeMarcus Lawrence paced the group in sacks with 13 combined. Lawrence is about to turn 34, however, and Nwosu is 29 years old entering a contract year in 2026. Former second-rounder Derick Hall is also entering a contract year. The Seahawks are in a great spot with their roster overall, and that should let them take a proactive approach with this room to ensure they can continue to have layers of quality pass rushers at their disposal. 

3 – Running Back

This was another strength for the Seahawks last year. In the regular season, the duo of Walker and former second-rounder Zach Charbonnet was an effective and essentially equal 1-2 punch. Charbonnet tore his ACL in the divisional round, pushing Walker into a feature role. He thrived, ultimately winning Super Bowl MVP.

So it’s fascinating, especially given Charbonnet’s injury status, that Seattle has indicated it plans to let Walker test free agency. At this point, Seahawks GM John Schneider has earned some benefit of the doubt when he’s willing to move on from a player, but on the surface, it appears to be a low upside gamble. Charbonnet didn’t have surgery until late February so a standard ACL recovery puts him out at least half the season, if not all. If Walker leaves, the Seahawks might be hard-pressed to find an upgrade in an underwhelming draft class, and Walker would be the best back available in free agency. 

Ultimately I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Seahawks backtrack and use the transition tag on Walker, but he would still be vulnerable to an offer sheet from another team in that scenario. With Charbonnet going into a contract year, this is a position of major need for Seattle. 

One Big Question

Can Seattle repeat? 

This is the natural first question for every Super Bowl champion. It’s only happened eight times in 60 years. In the case of the Seahawks, though, they’ve got a pretty solid chance to make it nine. They have some pieces set for free agency, but with how much cap space they’re working with, they’re in a good spot to either retain or find upgrades at those positions. 

Pretty much every core player remains in the fold for 2026, too, a list which includes Smith-Njigba, Darnold, Witherspoon, DT Leonard Williams, LB Ernest Jones IV, DT Byron Murphy, LT Charles Cross, G Grey Zabel and S Julian Love, among others. And even though the Seahawks only have four draft picks, they retained all their picks on the first two days of the draft, putting Schneider in a good position to land more future impact players. 

The biggest enemy is attrition. Part of the challenge for Super Bowl repeat hopefuls is the hangover from the year before, playing three to four extra games and getting less recovery time before diving back into the next season. It’s tougher to retain free agents, and there’s often a brain drain. Seattle will have to negotiate that with OC Klint Kubiak leaving for the Raiders’ head coaching job. By hiring 49ers TE coach Brian Fleury, who runs a similar system, Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald is hoping to keep the environment around Darnold as positive as possible. 

There will still be some skepticism around Darnold even though he’s now a Super Bowl champion quarterback, but Macdonald is a proven commodity as one of the top coaching innovators in the league right now. So Seattle’s defense should continue to be a force to be reckoned with. It’s tough to look around the NFC and find a team that clearly is in better shape for the upcoming season.