Category Archives: The roster

The roster

Initial roster set, but secondary is still in progress

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The Seahawks’ roster – the 40 or so guys who matter most anyway – has been set all summer. The biggest struggle in camp involved sorting out the back end of the defense – and even as the cut to 53 (plus 17 on the practice squad) was made, the secondary is still the most unsettled position group on the team.

The top four – Devon Witherspoon, Josh Jobe, Julian Love and Ty Okada – are ready to roll. But Nick Emmanwori, rookie Julian Neal, new trade acquisition Avery Smith and recent vet signee Trevon Diggs (on the practice squad) all are behind in their prep for the season.

Emmanwori and Neal are just now practicing after recovering from injuries (surgery in E-Man’s case). Smith just arrived via trade from the Chargers (where he was in a similar defense), and Diggs signed a couple of weeks ago and saw just a few plays in the final preseason game. It will be a race to see which of those guys is ready for the opener Sept. 9.

Continue reading Initial roster set, but secondary is still in progress →
Contracts, The roster

Williams extension completes lineup for potential dynasty

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With Leonard Williams happily under contract for another three years, the Seahawks are now ready to make a run at becoming the next NFL dynasty.

Williams is the seventh mainstay extended or re-signed this year, joining Charles Cross, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, Josh Jobe, Derick Hall and Devon Witherspoon. That doesn’t include lesser two-year deals given to Drake Thomas and Brady Russell.

This Super Bowl team is basically set for the next two years, with only three starting spots in question next offseason: edge rusher, center and right guard. If Jalen Sundell is tendered and Beau Stephens steps into Anthony Bradford’s spot, edge rusher will be the only hole.  

Continue reading Williams extension completes lineup for potential dynasty →
The roster, Training camp

How does Macdonald replace his ‘gravy’ safety?

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When Bud Clark was down on the field in Tennessee, being tended to after he had broken his ankle, he assured a questioning Mike Macdonald, “Hell yeah, coach, we gravy.”

We’re not hip to all the lingo, but sounds like he meant it will be OK.

It was apropos that he used that word because Clark was supposed to be the gravy on the Seattle defense this season — the extra sauce to give Macdonald’s unit another element of flexibility and confuse offenses even more. So losing him for the season is a really unfortunate blow to that plan.

Now the question becomes: How does Macdonald replace Clark? Where does he find some more gravy?

Continue reading How does Macdonald replace his ‘gravy’ safety? →
Contracts, The roster

Spoon’s deal beat anything on the field in preseason opener

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The Seahawks played their first football game of the season Saturday, but the most exciting action came earlier that morning when Devon Witherspoon finally signed the contract that made him (for now) the highest-paid cornerback in the league.

Mike Macdonald made us laugh when he lamented that his “team” did not play very well in the 17-7 loss to Dallas – because it was mostly third-stringers. We all know his A-team could start playing and winning right now.

This preseason is all about getting Brian Fleury integrated as the new OC, ramping up some young guys (e.g., Bud Clark) and settling the six or seven undetermined roster spots (some of which will rotate throughout the season anyway). Beyond that, the Seahawks are ready to “run it forward” in 2026 right now.

Meanwhile, John Schneider and Joey Laine have been running it forward beyond 2026. With the big extension for Witherspoon finally done, they now have locked up seven starters through at least 2028, along with drafting four other key guys in the last two years.

In our three-year projection, there are just seven openings for 2028: C, RG, WR3, ER2, both ILBs, SS. And four of those guys — Ernest Jones IV, Drake Thomas, Julian Love, Jalen Sundell — could easily be re-signed. That’s a pretty good-looking future.

Let’s take a look at Spoon’s deal, a little more on Terrion Arnold and the few tidbits we learned from the game Saturday.

Continue reading Spoon’s deal beat anything on the field in preseason opener →
It's bigger than football, The roster, Training camp

Let’s hope the Hawks are making a well-informed bet on Arnold

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The Seahawks’ reported pending addition of Terrion Arnold is a bet on a lot of things: (1) Arnold being available to play, (2) Arnold being worth it on the field, (3) Arnold not being a huge distraction to the team, (4) Arnold not ending up in prison and making John Schneider and Mike Macdonald look like complete fools.

You have to hope the bet is more like an insider trading investment than a pure roulette spin. In other words, hopefully Schneider and Macdonald have garnered information about the legal case that makes them think Arnold (a) did not commit the crime and (b) is going to be available to play for them for the majority of the season.

We should hear from the team leaders about this when they officially sign Arnold. They certainly owe an explanation to fans and the community about the decision to sign a guy accused of eight felonies.

There obviously are reasons they are optimistic about this move – reasons that go beyond thinking the cornerback can help them and thinking he is a good guy who got into a bad situation.

Continue reading Let’s hope the Hawks are making a well-informed bet on Arnold →
It's bigger than football, The roster

Arnold would be lucky to land with Hawks

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John Schneider’s Seahawks are known for checking out every opportunity. So it’s not a big surprise that they brought in troubled former first-round cornerback Terrion Arnold for a chat and tryout.

What would be a surprise is if they signed him before they knew whether he might be headed to prison. That would be pretty pointless – and make Schneider and Mike Macdonald look like idiots, frankly.

It sounds like they are being smart about it though – waiting for the legal process to play out. And they seem to understand that Arnold needs them a lot more than they need him. This would be just a potential flyer on a talented kid, if he does not end up incarcerated.

In more ways than one, Arnold would be lucky to land in Seattle.

Continue reading Arnold would be lucky to land with Hawks →
The roster, Training camp

5 weeks before opener, where things stand

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We’re two weeks into camp, a week away from the first preseason game, and less than five weeks from the Wednesday night NFL opener between the Seahawks and their recent Super Bowl foil, New England.

As Mike Macdonald and the Hawks prepare to host their Football Fest at Lumen Field on Saturday, we have learned a few things and gotten a lot of quotes from the first couple of weeks of practices.

Here’s a look at where things seem to stand at each position (based on various camp reports).

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The roster, Training camp

As camp begins, a look at the roster of the Super Bowl champs

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In the wake of a quicker-than-expected Super Bowl victory, it’s easy to forget that Mike Macdonald has been coach of the Seahawks for only two years. And apparently it’s easy for a lot of people around the NFL to wave him and his team off as a “lightning in a bottle” champion — never mind that Macdonald has almost his entire roster back and is still building the best version of his team as he begins Year 3.

People like Bucky Brooks who cannot see that Macdonald has the foundation of a possible dynasty in his hands are just not very smart (a 7-10 season? Come on, dude). Macdonald’s team is still ascending.

As the players reported Friday, Ernest Jones IV confirmed that when he said, “I’m super excited … (about) how much better of a team we are now than we were at this time last year.”

The roster is already so set that we count, at most, seven open spots. Three probably will go to backup offensive linemen, one to a fourth cornerback. The last spots will be special-teams roles that could rotate as the season goes on.

Continue reading As camp begins, a look at the roster of the Super Bowl champs →
The roster, X's & O's

EPA splits reveal defense is no worse for departures

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Many NFL observers have made a big deal about the Seahawks losing two starters and two major backups this offseason. Some argue that those four losses – along with an offensive coordinator change — are enough to even make them questionable as contenders in 2026.

But Brian Nemhauser (HawkBlogger) recently performed a fun exercise that confirmed what we and other savvy observers already knew: The Seahawks certainly did not get any worse this offseason.

On the contrary, on defense anyway, the Hawks are likely to be even better off (as we have said).

Continue reading EPA splits reveal defense is no worse for departures →
The roster

Talking tight ends: Barner’s value & Arroyo’s ‘opportunity’

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Tight ends are the talk of the town this week.

As many of the NFL’s “chess knights” – as Mike Macdonald calls them – attend the sixth annual Tight End University, a couple of the top guys also have received new contracts.

All of this activity — a month out from training camp – brings the focus in Seattle on the Seahawks’ two young tight ends, AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo. Both are entering big seasons, for different reasons.

Continue reading Talking tight ends: Barner’s value & Arroyo’s ‘opportunity’ →