“We’re a new team, and we have to rebecome the team that we’re destined to be.” – Mike Macdonald, sounding like Yoda at the owners meetings in Phoenix

Mike Macdonald channeled the wizened Jedi master when he told everyone that the Seahawks are “not defending anything” and need to “rebecome” a Super Bowl team all over again.

Macdonald offered some great team-rebuilding philosophy and also talked about various elements of his roster – among other things, saying he expects DeMarcus Lawrence back, looks forward to Rashid Shaheed’s growth in the offense and has high expectations for new and younger players.

“We’re a new team, and we have to rebecome the team that we’re destined to be,” Macdonald said. “There’s a lot of new pieces, and I think that’s where the focus is. OK, how can we get those ground elements back to where we want them? What’s a better way in terms of our process? How can we do Phase 1 better? How can we do Phase 2? … How can we do those things the best we can and take those things to the next level?”

Macdonald said the Hawks are not considering themselves “defending” champs: “That’s not a thing. We’re not defending anything. … We’ll figure out ways for the guys to really make it their journey again so we can all be on the same page moving forward.”

Macdonald mentioned a bunch of players, so let’s run down the roster by position.

Quarterback

One of the offensive twists we could see more of in 2026 is Jalen Milroe. As a rookie, his most notable play was fumbling a pitch on a trick play vs. Tampa Bay. After that, he was relegated to the emergency QB, Macdonald and Klint Kubiak choosing not to take the ball out of the hands of red-hot Sam Darnold.

“It’s the way things shook out,” Macdonald said. “It was best for the team for him not to be active on game day and have a larger role, but … I was really excited about his development. I know he’s going to work his tail off.”

Running back

The Seahawks don’t feel bad about their running back room. They added Emanual Wilson after losing Kenneth Walker III. Zach Charbonnet (ACL) is projected to be back around midseason. John Schneider and Macdonald both mentioned Kenny McIntosh coming back. And they are looking for more.

“I think people are sleeping on the guys we have a little bit,” Macdonald said. “George Holani played great for us down the stretch. Zach’s a great player; he’s not going to miss the whole year. And then Kenny Mac being able to come back, and then the guys we added. I’m excited about how that room goes from here. Obviously, just like the rest of the team, any opportunity to take our team to the next level, we’re going to look at. That’s how John rolls.”

Schneider added, “There’s guys in there we like. Like any position, would you like to add it? Yeah. But (we like) the uniqueness of the group. … They all have a cool, unique skill set.”

Wide receiver

The Hawks re-signed Shaheed at $17 million a year and look forward to seeing him in the offense after a full offseason.

“We’re going to have such a better idea of what he can do,” Macdonald said. “Him understanding more, then spending time on the detail of the routes and the timing and getting on the same page and the chemistry.

“I think we were trying to get him the ball as much as possible last year. I could think of … three or four plays where we’re inches away from explosive plays and some of those more intermediate cuts, we were just like a hair off on timing or location. So that’s kind of the detail we’re going to be attacking this offseason, try to make sure we’re rolling during the season.”

Meanwhile, Tory Horton is expected back for training camp after surgery on his shin.

“It’s just one of those things where you have to let it calm down, then be smart on how you come back,” Macdonald said. “We’ll have a plan for him over the course of the spring. He’s probably not going to be 100 percent starting Day 1. I’m not really sure of the timetable, but we expect him back for training camp.”

Edge rusher

The Seahawks lost Boye Mafe in free agency, and people have wondered whether they also might lose 33-year-old DeMarcus Lawrence to retirement.

“To my knowledge, he’s coming back,” Macdonald said. “He always has the right to change his mind; but, as of right now, he’s coming back.”

Defensive line

There is a lot of excitement – from fans and the team — about Rylie Mills, who got his first sack in the Super Bowl. His teammates went crazy over the play, knowing what he had endured in coming back from a college ACL injury for most of the season.

“I don’t think everybody else saw the things that we saw from him on a day-to-day basis,” Macdonald said. “I think that’s why the guys were so excited for him to make the play finally in the Super Bowl.”

As for 2026, Macdonald said the plan is “just find a sweet spot on his role and where he’s going to go. But the sky’s the limit. We’re going to get plenty of reps and plenty of ops for him to develop his game. … I think it’s also developing chemistry with the rest of the guys on the line — who he plays well with, what positions, how much, how many pass rush snaps he earns, all those things.”

Cornerback

The Seahawks have tried to sign Noah Igbinoghene for a couple years, and Macdonald joked that the former first-round pick chose poorly and missed out on the Super Bowl title.

“He’s a guy that we’ve been interested in for a while, and finally gave him some grief for maybe being a year late for when he should have been here,” Macdonald said. “But (he is) a guy (who can play) inside-outside flex. There’s great opportunity right now in our secondary to go carve yourself out a great role.”

Safety

With Coby Bryant off to Chicago, Ty Okada is the heir apparent to start alongside Julian Love. But the Hawks need a good third safety.

They signed Rodney Thomas II from the Colts and also brought back D’Anthony Bell and AJ Finley. Bell was with the team for most of the season, picked off waivers by Carolina ahead of the playoffs so he missed the Super Bowl run.

“The Panthers kind of stole him from us there at the end, so that was a bummer,” Macdonald said. “But D’Anthony’s been an asset for us. … He’s a guy that gives us safety flexibility, but also some big nickel flex as a backup to Nick (Emmanwori). So that’s going to be something we want to make sure that if Nick can’t find his helmet for a series or two, we can still go in and operate our defense.”

Finley suffered a season-ending knee injury in the summer.

“AJ was a guy that was having a great training camp,” Macdonald said. “He was competing right there with Ty for the third safety spot. Since he walked in the door, he’s (been) one of those steadfast guys that just nails it every day. He’s got a great attitude, and then he’s made a lot of plays on the ball in practice. So we’re excited about AJ.”

Young players

Over the last couple of seasons, several young guys have taken the coaching and turned into key contributors. The team just re-signed Josh Jobe and Drake Thomas off their solid play, and Okada is another.

Macdonald named several young players he expects to follow their lead: ER Jamie Sheriff, LB Connor O’Toole, TE Elijah Arroyo, CB Nehemiah Pritchett. He also mentioned “all of our young linemen” – which includes Jalen Sundell, Anthony Bradford, Olu Oluwatimi, Bryce Cabeldue, Christian Haynes, Amari Kight, Mason Richman.

“We have a lot of young guys that are excited about where they can take their game,” Macdonald said. “Now they need to take their game to another level. They know that, but they’re going to have an opportunity to do so.”

Other notes from owners meetings

John Schneider has declined “Hard Knocks” at least twice, but the rules changed last year and the Seahawks now will have to be on the show during training camp. But, the good news: They won’t have to do it again for another eight years.

The Chiefs are out as an option for the Wednesday night NFL opener in Seattle, due to Patrick Mahomes’ ACL injury. Owner Clark Hunt said, “I don’t think that’s on the table anymore. I think from a league standpoint, there would be some concern whether (Mahomes) would be ready to go.” The remaining options for Seattle’s opponent: Patriots, Bears, Chargers, Cowboys, Giants, Cardinals.

New Miami GM Jon-Eric Sullivan killed the dreams of some Seahawks fans when he confirmed he is not trying to trade star RB De’Von Achane. Sullivan said, “There is zero effort on my end to move Achane.”  

The Vikings are thought to be open to trading star pass rusher Jonathan Greenard. Coach Kevin O’Connell tried to publicly support Greenard by saying he expected him to be on the team. But KOC also said, “I know there’s always conversations. There’s conversations this week. There’s conversations throughout the offseason, and we’ll continue to kind of attack things at the different phases.”

Greenard is recovering from shoulder surgery, so any trade might not come until the draft or later. We include this note because we thing the Hawks should be monitoring the possibility.

Good news for K.J. Wright, who was promoted to linebackers coach by the 49ers. He is a very smart football guy who should rise up the ladder pretty quickly and eventually have a shot at one of the 32 main jobs.