The signing of Dante Fowler Jr. does a couple of things for Seattle: (1) Finishes the replacement of the four key free agents who left and (2) potentially upgrades the pass rush by a bit.
The roster is now largely set – with maybe seven spots up for grabs or rotation — as the Seahawks prepare for another Super Bowl title run in 2026.
The question is: How much better are the Hawks now than they were in their 2025 championship season?
More important: Are they good enough on defense to stop Matthew Stafford’s Rams?
How much better is this roster?
We think they will be better at QB, WR and OL and the secondary. They are trying to get better in the pass rush.
Sam Darnold is in his second season with his teammates. It’s hard to imagine him and Jaxon Smith-Njigba being much better together, but Darnold and Rashid Shaheed should really find their rhythm with a full offseason.
The line returns every starter and key backup and adds a potential upgrade at right guard in Beau Stephens. And, significantly, John Benton and Justin Outten stayed in Seattle rather than follow Klint Kubiak to Las Vegas.
The depth of the secondary looks much better than it did in 2025. Coby Bryant has been replaced by Bud Clark, who should be a multi-faceted upgrade over the steady Bryant. With Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada, the Hawks are stocked at safety. Emmanwori really plays SAM linebacker much of the time, but he floats all over. Clark might play three spots as well.
Riq Woolen will be replaced by third-rounder Julian Neal or former first-rounder Noah Igbinoghene, with seventh-rounders Andre Fuller and Michael Dansby joining Nehemiah Pritchett behind them. That’s five corners competing for the backup spots behind Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe.
Fowler potentially gives Seattle a little more juice in the pass rush than Boye Mafe did, and John Schneider and Mike Macdonald are rumored to be interested in adding another rusher to the group. They don’t have a game wrecker, and they are a bit long in the tooth on the defensive front (five guys age 29 or older).
Plenty of people are pushing for the Hawks to offer a shot at a Super Bowl ring to Von Miller or Cam Jordan. They combined for 19.5 sacks in 2025, both at age 36.
Enough to stop the Rams?
The pass rush and coverage have got to improve against the Rams.
The defense clamped Stafford in the first meeting last season but then got picked apart in the latter two — with Seattle winning because of Darnold, Shaheed, JSN, Kenneth Walker III, et al.
Stafford threw for 457 yards and three touchdowns in Seattle’s 38-37 overtime win in December. Puka Nacua caught 12 balls for 225 yards and two scores as Seattle’s secondary, which lost three guys to injury, simply could not contain him.
“They had a great game plan,” Macdonald said afterward. “They’re elite coaches over there. They do a great job. They execute at a high level, and they’ve got great players. We’ve got to play better. I’ve got to game plan better.”
In Seattle’s 31-27 win in the NFC title game, Stafford lit it up again – 374 yards and three scores. Nacua had 165 yards and a TD.
In those last two games, the Hawks pass rush hit Stafford just seven times and sacked him just once.
You know Macdonald is going to figure out how to get pressure on the NFL MVP and tighten up coverage against Nacua and the rest of Sean McVay’s offensive weapons.
Clark could be a first big step toward the latter, but the Hawks likely need to add more than just Fowler to do the former. Spoon and E-Man might be big factors there in 2026.
For now, that matchup remains the most troublesome for Seattle.
As Macdonald foretold after the Rams’ 21-19 win in November, “We’re going to be seeing a lot of these guys. We’re going to see them twice a year, possibly three (times), and to me it’s who evolves best from game to game, who learns from it, who grows the most is going get the advantage every time we play. Every time we play it’s an absolute knock-down, drag-out fight.”
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 
Last season was so much fun. Still can’t get over that playoff run. Awesome memories. It’s more than compensated for Newcastle United’s crappy year.
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