The offseason comes fast for Super Bowl champs, but Mike Macdonald and John Schneider were ready for it.
The Super Bowl celebration is over, and Macdonald is already back to Chasing Edges with some new coaching hires. Meanwhile, in what is no surprise, the Seahawks apparently are not considering the franchise tag for Kenneth Walker III.
Let’s run down the intriguing coaching moves by Macdonald and then take a look at Walker’s situation and project the markets for Seattle’s other key free agents.
The coaches
Macdonald threw everyone a little curveball with his replacement for Klint Kubiak: Brian Fleury. He also set up for the expected loss of Aden Durde to a coaching position in 2027, hiring old Baltimore cohort Zach Orr. He also brought in an X factor coach from Baltimore, Daniel Stern.
The Fleury hire took everyone by surprise, especially when it had widely been thought that Macdonald would promote one of his offensive assistants to be the new coordinator.
Macdonald likely was attracted to Fleury’s all-around football acumen, his focus on the run game, his familiarity with Sam Darnold and his Chasing Edges mentality.
George Kittle, the star tight end Fleury coached in San Francisco the past four years, once said, “He’s big on all his details on every single play. He knows absolutely everything going on in the offense. … How he breaks (defenses) down as a defensive coach, their responsibilities and stuff, we’re getting a complete restructure and relearning of the thing. That’s very beneficial to our room. What he has is a very different perspective on the game of football.”
Fleury got the job over reported internal candidates Andrew Janocko (quarterbacks), Jake Peetz (passing game), Justin Outten (running game) and Mack Brown (tight ends). To help satisfy the Rooney Rule on coordinator hiring, Macdonald also reportedly interviewed Conner Senger, a 30-year-old assistant with Arizona.
Janocko and Rick Dennison (senior offensive advisor) reportedly are off to join Kubiak in Las Vegas.
Macdonald also has reunited with two former Baltimore cohorts, hiring Zach Orr (the Ravens’ DC the past two years) as the heir apparent to Aden Durde and adding Daniel Stern, who might replace Janocko as QB coach. Stern helped John Harbaugh with situational strategy as well in Baltimore.
These hires are all more examples of Macdonald making his team better and preparing for the future. If Durde gets a head-coaching gig in 2027, Orr likely would take over as the DC (we all know Macdonald calls the plays).
Walker’s market
It is a bad year to need running backs, both in free agency and in the draft. And that is good news for Walker, the Super Bowl MVP.
Schneider rarely has used the franchise tag, so it is no surprise that he reportedly is not considering it for Walker.
The tag is projected to be around $14 million, and the Seahawks surely don’t want to set the APY at that amount for any long-term negotiations. Walker might get a deal approaching that from some team, but Schneider might top out at $10 million to $12 million.
Seeing the running backs at the Combine next week might dictate how Schneider feels.
Markets for other key UFAs
Rashid Shaheed is a priority keeper for the Hawks, but can they keep him? Some project his value at $14 million, and some think he could even get as much as $20 million. Kubiak’s Raiders have the second-most cap space in the NFL and might be strong bidders for Shaheed. Schneider likely would not pay $20 million, but he needs to do all he can to keep the star return man before free agency begins.
Riq Woolen posted a cryptic message that seems to indicate he does not expect to be back. Some team likely will offer him a deal worth around $20 million a year. Schneider is unlikely to want to pay that, and he might already have made that clear to Woolen’s agents.
Coby Bryant also is projected as high as $14 million, which is WAY over what Schneider would ever want to pay him. He is easily replaceable for much cheaper than that.
Josh Jobe said he would like to be back, but will some team offer him more than $10 million a year? If so, Macdonald and Schneider might be content to draft a new starter with one of their top three picks.
Boye Mafe seems a sure thing to land elsewhere with a nice payday. His projected value is around $12 million, and the Hawks probably do not value him that highly.
Extensions
The Hawks likely will look to extend both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon this offseason. JSN will be chasing Ja’Marr Chase’s league-high $40 million APY, and Witherspoon will be aiming for $30 million.
Derick Hall is low on the priority list, but he could end up with a new deal before the season starts. Schneider might be willing to pay him $12 million a year.
Some think Sam Darnold will want a raise this offseason. But he has two years left on his deal, so Schneider likely will wait until 2027 to bump him into the $50 million range (where 11 other quarterbacks sit right now).
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