The first day of free agency went better than expected for the Seahawks, who managed to keep both Josh Jobe AND Rashid Shaheed.

The latter was a nice surprise, as the Seahawks stunningly paid market value to keep their superstar return man. On the other side, they kept Jobe at their price – a little lower than his projected market value.

Shaheed was, in our estimation, Seattle’s top priority among its six big free agents. The fact that John Schneider and company chose to give him a three-year, $51 million deal ($17 million per year) is proof that they valued him very highly.

Jobe is back on a three-year deal as well, at $8 million a year.

As expected, the Hawks lost Kenneth Walker III, Coby Bryant and Boye Mafe. They all got paid very well. Mafe got a shocking $20 million a year from Cincinnati, Walker got over $14 million from Kansas City, and Bryant got over $13 million from Chicago.

Let’s take a look at how these moves impact the Seahawks’ roster and coming moves.

Wide receiver

The Hawks are in great shape in 2026, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Shaheed, Cooper Kupp and Tory Horton. Kupp, 33 in June, is probably in his last year with Seattle, even though his deal runs another year.

But JSN is going to be paid more than double what Shaheed got, and those two and Horton should lead the way for the next couple of years. The receiver room looks to be in great shape.

Of course, Shaheed returned three kicks for touchdowns – sparking huge wins against the Rams and the 49ers (in the playoffs). That is his superpower, but you can bet new OC Brian Fleury has a mandate to get him more involved in the offense. An offseason with Sam Darnold should make that happen.

Running back

With Walker gone and Zach Charbonnet out of commission with an ACL injury for probably half the season, the Hawks need to build up this position.

George Holani currently is RB1, and Kenny McIntosh is still around, but coming off another injury.

The Hawks definitely are not going to have to pay a lot of money to a veteran running back at this point. We’re talking guys like Rachaad White (Tampa Bay), Brian Robinson Jr. (San Francisco) and former starters Joe Mixon (Houston) and Najee Harris (L.A. Chargers), both coming off injuries. Emanuel Wilson, an untendered RFA from Green Bay, could be another option.

The draft is thin at the position, and the Hawks have just four picks at the moment, so it would be a big gamble to hope they found their 2026 starter there. They need a vet, for sure.

Cornerback

Riq Woolen did not sign with anyone Monday, but he was expected to get at least $15 million a year (we have been projecting as high as $18 million) from another team this week.

Jobe coming back is great for Seattle. He gave up a completion percentage of just 49.5 and allowed a mere 5.7 yards per target in 2025. He is a really solid player in Mike Macdonald’s defense.

After the Super Bowl, Julian Love described Jobe’s importance: “We put him on islands a lot of the time, just saying, ‘All right, it’s on you.’ You don’t have schemes. You can’t Mike Macdonald your way through playing corner for us. You’ve got to just line up and play ball. He had a tall task all year, and he met that task.”

With Devon Witherspoon expected to get a market-topping extension ($32 million a year or so), the Hawks are in great shape on the corners. There is now no pressure to draft a guy – but they can still add to the position from a deep class if it falls that way.

Safety

Ty Okada figures to step into Bryant’s starting spot. Okada really stepped up in 2025, starting 11 games. He ideally is a backup, and the Hawks could look into a strong safety class in the draft. Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren – potentially another Nick Emmanwori type — would seem to be option 1A for where Seattle is drafting.

Speaking of Emmanwori, he plays all over the defense, so the Hawks are well situated at safety.

Edge rusher

Losing Mafe is not a big deal – unless DeMarcus Lawrence retires as well.

If Lawrence is back, the Hawks still have him, Uchenna Nwosu and Derick Hall on the edges.

Seattle needs a next-level pass rusher though. That’s why Schneider checked into getting Maxx Crosby from the Raiders twice last year and (probably) again this year, before Baltimore ended up with him the other day.

The next best thing might be Jonathan Greenard, whom the Vikings reportedly are dangling in trade. We feel he is probably worth a second-rounder (and maybe a 2027 late pick).

If Greenard is not an option, there don’t seem to be many other good possibilities. Maybe Bradley Chubb, a productive 30-year-old pass rusher who was cut by Miami a few weeks ago and still has not signed anywhere.

Some have suggested the Hawks might check out trading for former Giants first-rounder Kayvon Thibodeaux. He had 11.5 sacks in 2023, but he has missed 12 games over the past two seasons. He is headed into his fifth year, playing on a bloated option salary of $14.75 million, but he has not done anything to merit an extension and thus is not worth a lot in trade.

The Hawks could just see what they find in the draft. That might be better than adding a cheaper vet who might cancel a comp pick.

Carter rumor

There are rumblings that the Eagles might be shopping Jalen Carter, the mercurial defensive lineman the Seahawks passed over to draft Devon Witherspoon in 2023.

One wild rumor listed the Seahawks among the teams that supposedly have called about Carter. We don’t think Schneider and Macdonald would be interested in the problematic Carter. But Schneider has stunned us before (see Percy Harvin and Jimmy Graham), so you never know.