The Seahawks have spent the first week of training camp improving the team that won the Super Bowl (and is being ignorantly underrated in many corners of the NFL universe this summer).
Training camp is the on-field business, with direct impact on the 2026 season. But there is off-field business being done as well, affecting the future of the franchise.
While Devon Witherspoon’s agency supposedly is still negotiating with the Seahawks, Leonard Williams revealed that his agent also has been talking to the team about a new deal – and then word came that the deal is expected to be done before the start of the season. That’s the news we wanted to hear.
If the Hawks do indeed manage to get deals for both Spoon and Big Cat (Williams), they would have the bulk of their No. 1 defense intact for the next three seasons. What a coup that would be.
A couple of recent deals around the league could be impacting negotiations with both Spoon and Williams. Meanwhile, the parallel paths of Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold might be about to change next year.
Let’s take a look at each contract situation and how it all might impact the franchise.
The corner market
Denzel Ward just got a two-year, $62.2 million extension from Cleveland that puts him $100,000 per year over the Rams’ Trent McDuffie for highest AAV. It still makes $32 million the baseline for Witherspoon and New England star Christian Gonzalez, who have the same agency (CAA).
It’s possible CAA has been waiting for the Ward contract, just so they made sure to exceed it. But it barely moved the needle.
The bigger question: Is CAA using inside knowledge of negotiations to get the Seahawks and Patriots to bid against each other?
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel doesn’t think so: “I don’t think they have anything to do with one another. We’re not negotiating with the Seahawks. We’re negotiating with Christian’s representatives. I don’t think that there’s anything different than just our communication with him.”
That seems pretty naïve, of course. The two contracts are deeply intertwined, as each corner wants top dollar for the position. CAA knows all the numbers and seems likely to be controlling talks for both players because of it. You have to wonder whether John Schneider and Pats GM Eliot Wolf are sharing numbers, too. They would be smart to, if only to understand how CAA is approaching the big picture.
Eventually, both deals will get done – and we likely will find out a little bit about what really complicated the negotiations.
Previously, we projected a Spoon deal worth $35 million a year and fully guaranteeing $58 million — $8 million more than McDuffie’s full guarantees. The Seahawks might keep him for a bit less than $35 million. We shall see.
Big Cat, big money
As camp started, Williams revealed that talks have taken place on a deal to keep him in Seattle beyond 2026. He made it seem like there has been little progress, but then NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo predicted a new deal before the season starts.
“It is going to be a big number,” Garafolo told Seattle podcaster Jason Puckett. “It’ll be before Week 1, I’ll put it to you like that, and it’s going to be a big number, from my understanding.”
We have been expecting a deal averaging $25 million, but Jalen Carter just got $38 million a year from the Eagles, and seven tackles are over $25 million now. Williams should get into that group – though it would be a surprise if the 32-year-old joins Carter, Jeffery Simmons and Chris Jones at over $30 million.
We project Williams’ deal to fall between $25 million and $30 million.
Locking down the Dark Side
Imagine having Williams, Witherspoon, Byron Murphy II, Nick Emmanwori, Derick Hall, Josh Jobe, Rylie Mills and Bud Clark for at least the next three years – with Ernest Jones IV, Julian Love, Drake Thomas and Ty Okada all potentially staying beyond 2027 as well.
Williams would be a great keeper for a couple more years. Murphy can be locked in (via team option) through 2028, so that would be three more seasons of those two dominant tackles. If Mills could prove worthy of supplanting Jarran Reed, that would be a nice trio inside.
The Seahawks sure look like they might be able to keep this Dark Side defense together for a few more years – long enough to make a run at the achievements of the historic Legion of Boom, which was the NFL’s top scoring defense for four straight years.
Mayfield & Darnold are different cases
Mayfield and Darnold, top-three picks in the 2018 draft, have had very similar careers – so similar in fact that their paths crossed when both were briefly in Carolina, before they finally found success in their late 20s.
This week, Mayfield grumbled that Tampa Bay’s contract offer was “pretty far” from the $50 million mark that separates the top quarterbacks from the rest. The Bucs seem to have some reservations about paying him among the top 12 QBs (he is 16th now).
The Hawks almost surely will not have those reservations about Darnold next year. Assuming he plays at least as well as he did in 2025, he should end up with a $55 million AAV (which would be top eight).
Mike Macdonald clearly loves him, as he should. He sang his praises once more this week: “I’ll tell you right now, he’s being really decisive with the ball, taking care of the ball, making great decisions. He’s playing fast. He’s being aggressive when he needs to be. He’s doing a lot of great things. Great command.”
Despite entering his ninth season, Darnold is just 29. He has been one of the best passers in the NFL the past two seasons (including 2024 with Minnesota) and he is still getting better. Extending him for four years would take him through age 34, which is still an age when many excellent quarterbacks remain good (Matthew Stafford just won the MVP at age 37).
The Seahawks are in a good spot at QB, and extending Darnold will keep them there for quite some time.
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