Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald watches his team play against the Arizona Cardinals during the third quarter at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Dec. 8, 2024. Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Insider lays out best and worst-case scenarios for 2025 Seattle Seahawks

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Russell Baxter | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 9:00 AM ET

Rookies report on July 17 and veterans on July 23. The Seattle Seahawks will be embarking on their 50th season in 2025. There’s an air of excitement, as well as trepidation, surrounding this club.

Last week, Yahoo! Sports Senior Writer Frank Schwab gave his thoughts on the Seattle Seahawks, and put them at No. 17 on his NFL power rankings. He gave them a B-minus grade for their offseason work. Now he lays out what could go right and could go wrong for Mike Macdonald’s team this upcoming season—starting with the positive outlook.

“We’re in an era of quarterbacks reinventing themselves with their second, third, fourth, or in Sam Darnold’s case, fifth NFL team,” explained Schwab. “Darnold started with the Jets, one of the worst organizations in sports, moved to the Panthers, who are not that much better than the Jets, and then spent a year learning with the 49ers before a fantastic season starting for the Vikings. It’s not that outrageous to believe Darnold, once the third overall pick of the draft, will have a Baker Mayfield type of renaissance that lasts more than one season.

“Two bad games to end last season don’t eliminate all the strides he made,” added Schwab. “If Darnold’s new level sticks, the Seahawks are set up well. Seattle’s defense improved dramatically late last season. Its offense could benefit from a change in coordinators. Seattle won 10 games last season and if Darnold continues what we saw last season in Minnesota, the Seahawks could improve and contend for an NFC West title.”

The latter is something Seattle hasn’t done since 2020. In fact, the team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2019. So what if things go in the other direction for Macdonald’s club? “Seemingly everyone,” stated Schwab, “other than the Seahawks’ brass, has given up on Sam Darnold due to two bad games to finish last season. And maybe those critics are right. Darnold’s NFL career has had way more failure than success. It would sting to realize early in the season that moving on from Geno Smith to sign Darnold was a big mistake.

“Perhaps the offense isn’t quite as dynamic without DK Metcalf to stretch the field, and the defense looks more like it did in the first half of last season than the improved version we saw after Seattle’s bye. The main reason teams rarely make bold moves away from what feels safe is they fear being wrong. If Darnold struggles and Seattle slips to a losing season, there will be plenty of questions about its offseason plan.”

From Darnold, to wideouts Cooper Kupp to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, to rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo. General manager John Schneider added a lot of new faces to the offense. Those pieces really need to gel sooner than later, starting with a big season opener against the visiting 49ers.

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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