The 2025 Seahawks Will Be Better Than Expected

Fresh off a 10-7 record in Mike MacDonald’s debut season, the Seahawks have turned over their roster, ushering in a new era of football that many view as tanking.

However, the Seahawks are simply retooling and refining their new style under the dominion of MacDonald and John Schneider.

The Seahawks Had Clear Flaws in 2024

Despite the promising record last year, the Seahawks had plenty of issues to address.

They couldn’t hang with elite teams, as shown by big losses against Buffalo, Green Bay, Minnesota, and others. They ranked fifth in the league with 60.8% of plays being passes and, consequently, were one of five teams not to average over 100 rushing yards per game.  

This imbalance led to the jettison of their core offensive tenets: Ryan Grubb, Geno Smith, D.K. Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett. While Lockett was simply an unfortunate cap casualty, all the other changes represent a shifting identity.

Ryan Grubb was originally hired as an inventive offensive mind from Washington, where he worked with three-receiver sets and a relatively pro-style offense. However, his overreliance on the pass created a predictable, one-dimensional offense that often got the Seahawks behind schedule and set them up for insurmountable third and long situations.

In fairness, Kenneth Walker battled injuries throughout the year, which removed an explosive dimension from their offense. While Zach Charbonnet had excellent relief appearances, such as his 22/132/2 performance against Arizona in December, the premise of their running attack is built on the combination of Walker’s speed and agility and Charbonnet’s power.

While we may never know if Grubb’s scheme, Walker’s health, or offensive line issues prevented the running game from reaching its potential, the bottom line is that their 28th-ranked running game is unacceptable in the modern NFL, where the running game has resurged.

Geno Smith also had his poorest year as a Seahawk. While he delivered key moments, such as a walk-off rushing TD that led Seattle past San Francisco for the first time since 2021, he also consistently delivered awful miscues in critical moments. His brutal interceptions against the Rams single-handedly lost them that game, and another two interceptions against Minnesota allowed the Vikings to usurp a game that the Seahawks controlled.

D.K. Metcalf, while productive, failed to notch 1,000 yards for the third time in his career and saw his role dwindle as Jaxon Smith-Njigba began to dominate later in the year. From Week 11 to 18, Metcalf didn’t catch over five passes once.

The Seahawks Addressed Their Weaknesses

With the Seahawks’ failures from the past year in mind, MacDonald and Schneider realized change was necessary and got to work.

They brought in Sam Darnold on essentially a one-year, $37.5 million contract, Cooper Kupp on a three-year, $45 million deal, and then tacked on defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, giving him $32.5 million over three years to upgrade their defensive line.

While going from Smith to Darnold is a relatively lateral move, the Seahawks get eight years younger at the QB position and simultaneously free up $5-10 million in cap space, as Smith eventually signed a $43.5 million AAV contract. The Seahawks sacrificed some WR talent as Metcalf to Kupp could be a downgrade, but he’s $15 million cheaper than Metcalf and a smaller-ego receiver who may not be as fiery a presence in the locker room.