Seattle Seahawks 2026 NFL Season Preview

Offense

The only losses on this side of the ball: Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III signed a $43 million free-agent deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, and play-caller Klint Kubiak is the Las Vegas Raiders’ new head coach.

Those are significant exits. In his only season calling the offense, Kubiak had the Seahawks near the top of the league in percentage of running plays. Walker shared carries with Zach Charbonnet, who rushed for 12 touchdowns, Seattle’s most since Marshawn Lynch in 2014. But Charbonnet tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Seattle’s NFC divisional playoff game against San Francisco in mid-January and may not return until well into this coming season, if then. Charbonnet’s injury and Walker’s exit prompted the Seahawks to make Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price only the fourth running back selected in the first round in the franchise’s 51-year history.

New offensive coordinator Brian Fleury arrives after a stint as the 49ers’ run-game coordinator and tight ends coach. He’s steeped in the Shanahan outside-zone running system, the scheme Kubiak installed to great effect in 2025.

Price has the inside track to be Seattle’s new lead back. Emanuel Wilson, a part-time back with the Green Bay Packers, signed in free agency. Former undrafted free agent George Holani enters his third season.

Darnold enters the second year of a three-year deal having already justified Macdonald’s and general manager John Schneider’s decision in March 2025 to trade Geno Smith and make the well-traveled Darnold Seattle’s new franchise quarterback. Darnold’s three-year, $100 million contract is already a bargain.

Darnold has reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba and 2022 Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp returning as his top targets. The Seahawks re-signed Rashid Shaheed for $17 million per season more for his Pro Bowl kickoff and punt return skills than for his duties as third wide receiver. The team expects speedy Tory Horton to return from the shin injury that ended his rookie season in November. Tight end AJ Barner is an emerging star. In two seasons, he’s proven to be a more dangerous receiver than he showed in college at Michigan and Indiana, where he was more of a blocker.

Veteran NFL outside-zone teacher John Benton returns to coach the offensive line, Seattle’s most improved unit in 2025. Bookend tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas signed big extensions. Grey Zabel debuted as a stud Day 1 starter at left guard, fixing a problem spot. Jalen Sundell, an undrafted rookie in 2024 from North Dakota State (where he was Zabel’s roommate), solidified the center spot. Anthony Bradford returns as the maligned right guard entering the final year of his rookie contract. Rookie Beau Stephens will challenge him.

Defense

The 39-year-old Macdonald, the former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator, has 10 starters returning to a unit that led the league in scoring defense.

Seattle re-signed Josh Jobe to start opposite Witherspoon at cornerback. Riq Woolen signed with Philadelphia in March after alternating with Jobe in a three-cornerback rotation, and the Seahawks drafted Arkansas cornerback Julian Neal in the third round as a potential replacement. They also drafted TCU safety Bud Clark in the second round after Coby Bryant, Seattle’s starting safety next to Julian Love last season, signed with Chicago.

Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori are Macdonald’s favorite chess pieces. He moves them around his amoeba defense, from inside at nickel and dime, to blitzing, to press-man or zone coverage. Emmanwori is listed as a safety, but he is really more of a linebacker. Nickel and dime are essentially the Seahawks’ base sets.

The Seahawks lost edge Boye Mafe to a $20 million-per-year free-agent contract in Cincinnati but filled the gap by signing 10-year veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr. to a one-year deal. Fowler had three sacks for Dallas in 2025 but 10.5 with 14 tackles for a loss for Washington in 2024.

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, 34, is coming off a Pro Bowl season. This will be his 13th NFL campaign. Fellow Pro Bowl defensive lineman Leonard Williams is 32, and Reed will turn 34 this winter. Whether the Seahawks can continue to get elite performances from that trio, who possess 33 combined seasons of experience, will be a key to the continued success of the Seahawks’ hybrid 3-4 defense. A repeat of versatile tackle Byron Murphy II’s stellar 2025 would help.

Specialists

By most metrics, Seattle had the league’s best special teams in 2025. So the Seahawks retained Shaheed as well as other core players from the kicking game. Placekicker Jason Myers, 35, is coming off a career year. Michael Dickson and the New York Giants’ Jordan Stout are the NFL’s richest punters at more than $4 million per season apiece, and Dickson is worth the money. He’s a weapon who tilts field position in favor of Seattle’s game-changing defense.

Final analysis

The Seahawks return 20 of 22 starters from the team that won the Super Bowl. Health, of course, is the key to a repeat. The concerns: the unproven running back situation on a run-based offense; the reliance on a rapidly aging defensive line; and the Los Angeles Rams, who still have reigning MVP Matthew Stafford. Expect Seattle and L.A. to win at least 12 games apiece while fighting for the NFC West title and the conference’s top playoff seed.