The Seattle Seahawks looked like one of the most dominant teams in the NFL last season and proved it by winning Super Bowl LX over the New England Patriots in such fashion. Their roster was a combination of deadly talent brought together by general manager John Schneider.
But even champions have to pay their bills and the start of the 2026 offseason proved to be an expensive one for the Seahawks.
They saw five players depart in free agency but they weren't just depth pieces or simple cap casualties. In fact, four of them made big plays during the Super Bowl - of which one earned game MVP honors - and were keys to the franchise's postseason run to get there.
Seattle's free agent departures
- RB Kenneth Walker III (Kansas City Chiefs - 3 years, $43.05 million)
- OLB Boye Mafe (Cincinnati Bengals - 3 years, $60 million)
- S Coby Bryant (Chicago Bears - 3 years, $40 million)
- CB Tariq Woolen (Philadelphia Eagles - 1 year, $12 million)
- WR Dareke Young (Las Vegas Raiders)
"Damn," Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori wrote in a melancholic post on X when he learned his "Dark Side" defense teammates' were leaving for other teams. He basically summed up the feelings of the entire fanbase who were hoping to run it back this season with that group.
However, linebacker Ernest Jones IV had a more glass-half-full approach to dealing with his friends departing for big pay days.
From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: Friend of the program and #Seahawks LB Ernest Jones IV joined the show to talk about free agency, his friends leaving to get paid, and why he believes in the Seattle philosophy. pic.twitter.com/h41REo3nCF
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 12, 2026
"I'd love to have them back on this team but I understand we got families to take care of," he told NFL Network's Ian Rapaport on Thursday. "Those guys deserve it. It does suck for the Seahawks, those are some really good players but you just got to trust the organization... and let's just go play ball."
Seahawks fans can definitely trust their organization like Jones does. Schneider managed to bring back a significant number of impending free agents who will continue to frustrate opponents in 2026.
Key Seahawks re-signings and retentions
- WR Rashid Shaheed (3 years, $51 million)
- CB Josh Jobe (3 years, $24 million)
- NT Brandon Pili (1 year, $2.1 million)
- LB Drake Thomas (2 years, $8 million)
- LS Chris Stoll (2 years)
- RT Josh Jones (1 year)
- FB Brady Russell (2 years)
- S AJ Finley (multi-year)
- WR Jake Bobo (RFA tender, $3.52 million)
On top of that, Schneider landed a few solid free agents from other teams in order to replace the big names he unfortunately lost.
Seahawks free agent signings
- RB Emanuel Wilson (1 year, $2.1 million)
- S Rodney Thomas (1 year)
- DB D'Anthony Bell (1 year)
Now that the free agency rush has finally leveled out across the league, it's time to assess where Seattle stands and what questions will only be answered once the 2026 campaign kicks off.
Did Seattle make a mistake letting Kenneth Walker go in free agency?
Over his four year career to date, Walker hasn't necessarily been one of the top running backs in the game. That being said, his 2025 campaign was the perfect storm to boost his free agency earnings and Kansas City happened to be the highest bidder.
Walker recorded 1,027 rushing yards - only the second time he's eclipsed the 1k mark in his career - and found the endzone just five times for Seattle. That's not a knock on his talents whatsoever but instead is an insight into his usage as part of head coach Mike MacDonald's system.
The Seahawks valued their backfield tandem of Walker and Zach Charbonnet which combined for 1,757 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. The latter number is where the problem for Walker emerges. Charbonnet turned into Seattle's red zone and goal-to-go rusher which resulted in several drives rooted in Walker's yardage capped off with his backup punching the ball across the goal line (12 to be exact).
Despite a torn ACL, Charbonnet isn't going anywhere and Walker knew his value as a Super Bowl MVP. But will either Charbonnet or newcomer Emanuel Wilson make up for his workhorse abilities?
The latter joins from the Green Bay Packers where he backed up Josh Jacobs, posting 496 yards and three touchdowns in 2025. Unless MacDonald and Schneider consider this tandem a bridge to another star, whether found in the draft or next year's free agent class, there's going to be serious regression in Seattle's running game.
Will breaking up the "Dark Side" defense shine a light on Seahawks' weaknesses?
Seattle had one of the most suffocating defenses in football last year. In fact, it ranked among the Top 5 in half of major defensive categories.
Defensive Category | Place (Stat) |
|---|---|
Total yards allowed | 6th (4,855 yards) |
Yards per game allowed | 6th (285.6 yards) |
Rushing yards allowed | 3rd (1,563 yards) |
Rushing yards per game allowed | 3rd (91.9 yards) |
Total points allowed | 1st (292 points) |
Points allowed per game | 1st (17.2 points) |
Interceptions | 5th (18 INTs) |
Takeaways | 6th (25 takeaways) |
That domination was thanks in most part to what was dubbed "The Dark Side" defense made up of stars like Boye Mafe, Tariq Woolen, Coby Bryant, Ernest Jones IV, Nick Emmanwori, Drake Thomas and Josh Jobe among many others. Of those I just named, the first three departed in free agency.
Three players out of an 11-side defense doesn't seem like much but those specific three had a massive impact on Seattle's success.
The Seahawks recorded 1,327 total tackles last season. Bryant was responsible for five percent of those (66), Woolen three percent (41) and Mafe just over two percent (31). They combined for over 10 percent of the team's tackling.
All three were also critical in the turnover department. Seattle recorded 18 interceptions with Bryant and Woolen logging five of them. Mafe sacked quarterbacks twice and forced a fumble.
As mentioned before, Schneider has only filled one of their slots with safety Rodney Thomas II. No shade towards him but his 2025 numbers were not comparable to Bryant. Thomas recorded just 14 solo tackles and just a single stuff in 17 games. He's being asked a lot to step into Bryant's role.
But where Seattle took advantage of major strengths that led directly to its Super Bowl title, there were chinks in its nearly impenetrable armor. Particularly the Seahawks were slightly less dominant against the pass. They were 10th in total passing yards allowed and per game (3,297 yards and 193.9 yards respectively).
That may increasingly become a problem with guys like Bryant and Woolen gone in the secondary and Mafe no longer adding pass pressure.
The rest of Schneider's approach to restocking the defense will seemingly be revealed at April's draft. He has an opportunity to find some young studs that can offer a retooled extension of the "Dark Side" defense.
But we'll find out this season whether Seattle's strengths will see regressions and if their weaknesses are exasperated even more.
Is Sam Darnold approaching a regression year?
If you had told any Seahawks fan prior to 2024 that the quarterback who would lead their team back to the top of the NFL for the first time since Russell Wilson would be Sam Darnold, they wouldn't have believed you. But after witnessing a complete career revival over the last two seasons, they probably can't imagine anyone else doing it.
Darnold smashed his previous career bests in completions, yards, touchdowns, passer rating and adjusted QBR as a Minnesota Viking two seasons ago. He departed Minneapolis for Seattle and promptly lifted the Lombardi Trophy despite actually coming up just short of those marks in 2025.
Last season was still one of Darnold's best but is it realistic to expect him to produce at the same level for a third year in a row as he approaches age 29? He didn't lose any receiving weapons but losing offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak could have a significant impact on play calling and execution of game plans.
Darnold has played like an elite passer recently but it's premature to put him in the elite category with guys like Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford. Even then, those guys have bad years and the odds suggest Darnold is more likely than not to take a step backward. That'll definitely determine whether Seattle is able to successfully defend its Super Bowl title or relinquish it to a new challenger.