What a fantastic time to be a Seattle sports fan. The Mariners have officially started their season, and they are heavy favorites to win the American League this year. On top of that, very encouraging news broke last Wednesday out of the NBA that their board of governors are open to exploring expansion in Seattle for the return of our much beloved SuperSonics, and they will now be accepting bids for the potential franchise. Then, of course, last but not least, the Seattle Seahawks are not even two months removed from winning Super Bowl LX, and are finding themselves in the midst of an interesting offseason.

Before we go far into this little blog piece, let us reflect exactly where we were a year ago at this time with the Seattle Seahawks. Around this time last year, Seattle had done a flurry of dramatic moves for which almost all of them drew heavy criticism from extremely well paid analysts such as Mina Kimes, Ben Solak, Nick Wright, Sheil Kapadia, Bill Simmons, and many other high profile media cool kids.

I won’t go through the long list of what was all said on EPSN and other outlets, but the consensus amongst these “experts” was that Sam Darnold was not an upgrade over Geno Smith, Cooper Kupp was too old and broken down, DeMarcus Lawrence couldn’t reliably pass, and they all wondered loudly how the Seahawks could generate any sort of down field threat in their pass game without DK Metcalf when all they were left with was a geriatric Kupp and a mere slot receiver in Jaxon Smith Njigba. Well, what a difference a year makes.

I know I tend to harp on the millionaire class of big network football analysts and such. It is true as a life long fan of the Seattle Seahawks, I carry a chip on my shoulder. Seattle, even though it lists as the eleventh largest market in North America, it is geographically isolated from other big markets. I think this has an accumulative effect on how our sports teams are covered. So when analysts make broad strokes of criticism against my PNW teams, I tend to want to put their headshots on a dartboard in my office den.

Why I am going into such vivid details about these football talking heads, you ask, and not getting to JSN and the Seahawks offseason?

The answer to that is that all these supposedly bright football minds possessed no ability to see what was coming for Jaxon and the Seahawks in their doom and gloom 2025 predictions for the team last offseason, at all. They predicted Sam Darnold would see ghosts, and they did not consider that they MAIN REASON why John Schneider felt so comfortable parting with DK and Tyler Lockett was because they had a guy in JSN ready to ratchet up his game to a higher level.

Whenever it comes to the Seahawks, do not listen to the experts, especially when they have John Schneider as their GM. John does not think like you, or me, or Solak, or Kimes. He is infinitely more intelligent about football, and because of that, his insights allow him to be bold where others probably wouldn’t be. After trading away Russell Wilson when it was perceived that he was still in his prime, and successfully maintaining a completive franchise afterwards, we should have more trust in John. After watching what the Seahawks did with Darnold, JSN, and crew in 2025, we should trust him even more.

Here is definitely what I think about JSN, and the Seahawks move to extend him now. 2025 proved that he is arguably the top receiver in the league, and folks can quibble in comparing him to Puka Nacua, Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase. Personally, I would be perfectly fine to take the totality of JSN’s skills over all of those guys, especially when you consider his personality.

While JSN is not a height and speed freak like DK Metcalf, he is light years ahead of him as a crafty route runner, and his hands are vastly more reliable. Jaxon can play any receiver spot on the field at a high level. He has enough size and speed to line up outside, and he has enough twitch and body control to play inside. The nuance of his game is, in fact, his elite body control on how he can run his routes to look the same without giving DBs tells, and then he has this Jedi ability to juke the defender away from him at the top of his route to create instant space for Darnold to hit him downfield.

In a sense, he boxes incredibly smart setting up his opponents, but it is his unique body control that allows him to set his defenders up to look foolish. It is an incredibly rare skillset of his in this league, and if any receiver could do any of this, they most certainly would. When you factor this, on top of him having a personality that is very much the opposite of the classic diva vibes that most high profile NFL receivers come with, you do not let a guy like this get out of your building onto another team. JSN might not have been the reason why Seattle won Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara over a month ago, but he is a MASSIVE reason as to how they got there.

What I love most about this signing is how Seattle chose to go about it. Last week, they applied the fifth year option to his rookie first round contract (along with fellow 2023 first rounder Devon Witherspoon, who’s extension is coming next), and this week, they reached an extension. Bravo.

Why bravo, you ask?

Because the contract dollars of JSN’s record breaking 4 year $162 million dollar contract won’t really kick in against the cap until 2028. Essentially, Jaxon is here on a six year deal and when you include what will be his earnings in 2026 and 2027 off the final years of his first round rookie contract, this contract really equals about $31 million APY in totality. With the driving cost of top end WR contracts in the league, this is a killer deal for Seattle when over the next few years they will be staring at likely extensions for Sam Darnold, Byron Murphy, Grey Zabel, and Nick Emmanwori, and other young core players they are likely going to want to prioritize.

Getting JSN to agree to this contract now is a masterstroke for the Seahawk front office. In fact, this all feels very purposefully coordinated.

I know that the initial stages of free agency stung for a lot of Seahawk fans. Seeing Super Bowl MVP Ken Walker walk to Kansas City made massive headlines, but let us quickly break this down a tad.

The Seahawks lost Walker, Riq Woolen, Boye Mafe, and Coby Bryant in free agency, all to big time contracts, and they were able to retain valuable returner and potential number two receiver Rashid Shaheed, and cornerback Josh Jobe. Of those four players lost, only two of them were actual starters for the 2025 Super Bowl Champs, Walker and safety Coby Bryant. Jobe was a starter over Woolen in their base defense, and Mafe was reduced to being a rotational pass rusher.

While people on Sports Center can clamor over who will run the ball for Seattle in 2026 with Walker gone and Zach Charbonnet on the mend, the Seattle Seahawks, who led the league with historic DVOA numbers in totality, are walking back all of their starters sans two guys. While it can be fun to be active in free agency, let us applaud them for choosing to be disciplined, and only bringing in a couple outside guys on deals that will not impact the compensatory picks that they will receive for the 2027 draft that is expected to be a very good one.

Because teams choose to give Walker, Woolen, Mafe, and Bryant big free agent contracts, Seattle is poised to receive as many as four third round compensatory picks next year. If you are going to pay fellas like JSN and Witherspoon, and others top dollars to stay Seahawks, you are going to need to continue the cycle of building strong through the draft, and next year, there is an anticipation that as many as six quarterbacks (or more) could go in the first round. As we know, strong quarterback drafts push really good players further down and make them available later on.

In 2024, the Seahawks would not have been able to land Byron Murphy at pick 16 without the fact that six quarterbacks were taken in front of them. Murphy, as we know, is blossoming into one of the best young defensive tackles in the game able to disrupt the run, and pressure quarterbacks. In this day and age, having defensive tackles who can do this is pure gold in this league. So, while we can have some anxious thoughts about who will be carrying the rock for Seattle in 2025, I would suggest staying a bit more patient with those concerns and look at the much broader picture.

Seattle chose to bring back valuable kick returner/receiver Rashid Shaheed who played a MASSIVE role in Seattle’s bid for the Super Bowl last season. His unique traits as a returner give Seattle a distinct advantage on special teams, and I thought as the season wore on into the postseason, the connection between him and Darnold was improving. I am excited to see what comes between them with a full offseason to really build chemistry and figure on the timing when he has gears that simply no other receiver has on this team. I suspect he could factor into a bit of a Deebo Samuel type of runner/receiver in this offense, as well.

In terms of who is going to run the ball in this offense this year, I would strongly suggest waiting to see what happens after the draft next month before judging it. Seattle has only four picks in a draft that is widely regarded as not being very good. There is decent depth in this draft, however, at corner, edge, safety, and offensive line. The running back situation in this draft is not great minus a couple guys from Notre Dame who one will definitely be drafted in the first round, and his mate might in the later stages of it, as well.

Seattle might choose to select a running back early, if the right guy falls, but if he doesn’t, don’t be surprised if they go other positions in the draft with the other four picks and look to what the remnants of free agent backs are available afterwards, or what is available via a trade. Signing free agents players after the draft does not take away compensatory picks in next year’s draft. This is probably why they had a look recently at free agent Najee Harris who is still available because he is coming off of an Achilles tear.

While nobody is going to say the Harris is good as K9, he is a runner who has performed well in the past in a zone blocking scheme in Pittsburgh, and might be worth looking at entering into the mix here if needed. Seattle, with its projected eleven picks in a much richer 2027 draft class, could also look to be a buyer of a running back via the trade market.

Finally, I wouldn’t necessarily discount the chances of Zach Charbonnet coming off the mend of his knee injury late last season quicker than some are anticipating. He is a young player and a tough guy, and the medical advancements in knee surgeries are actually really good these days. Perhaps he will be a player ready to go by opening day as the featured running back for Seattle, who knows.

What I do know is that Seattle is returning most of its roster in 2026. This was a roster that led the league in total DVOA numbers, and along with a massive point differential last year.

If in a weaker than usual draft, they simply take Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price (who compares somewhat to K9) at pick 32, and have him on a cheap contract for a number of years, it feels like a move that would make a lot of sense. However, if they decide to go a different route, and just take the best overall player available, and let’s just say that happens to be a player that upgrades right guard, for example, maybe that does just a much for the run game in 2026 as it would be taking a young runner with potential. These are the things worth considering as I am sure they will be doing just that.

Really, as I look at this roster, I see only three to four spots that most likely need further addressing, and they are running back, cornerback, edge rusher, and safety. I don’t, however, see any of these spots as something that warrants them reaching to add in this draft. In a weaker than normal draft, I think you just want to grab best player available regardless of position. If it is a young DT at pick 32, over an edge rusher, for example, so be it. Make your strength stronger.

Seattle could look to add any one of Jadeveon Clowney, Joey Bosa, Von Miller, Kyle Van Noy, or Leonard Floyd post draft to secure their edge rotation. They could take a shot on Najee Harris as a runner in their zone blocking scheme. They could look to add Rasul Douglas, or Trevon Diggs, or Marshawn Lattimore at corner. They could bring in Taylor Rapp as an extra veteran safety.

I also wouldn’t dismiss the idea that the low key free agent signings of safety Rodney Thomas and running back Emmuel Wilson would play positive factors for Seattle beyond being mere depth players. After all, nobody who follows this team closely last year was projecting that linebacker Drake Thomas was going to factor big time, or safety Ty Okada.

At any rate, I think there are tons of reasons to remain excited about the Seahawks moving forward. They just won the Super Bowl and are not in a desperate state to sign 31 year old Mike Evans to secure their receiver room like the 49ers needed to do. They didn’t need to send a first and third round pick to Kansas City for cornerback Trent McDuffie like the Rams needed to do in order to shore up their secondary, they have one of the best young corners in the game in Witherspoon.

Seattle can let this 2026 draft come to them, and with their four picks, just take best available players, and then see what free agency and trades offer them afterwards. This feels like a good sensible, and likely plan.

In fact, I would suggest that their two biggest moves still to be made this offseason are securing sensational cornerback Devon Witherspoon long term, and then of course, hopefully finding a rock solid new ownership that will be acquiring this team. This last one, frankly, is most definitely going to be their most critical move moving forward.

Go Hawks.