Tag Archives: Boye Mafe

Contracts, The roster

JSN is earning a big payday — let’s look ahead to 2026

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With every passing week that he helps the Seahawks notch another win, Jaxon Smith-Njigba makes himself a lot more money.

He had perhaps his best game of the season in a 30-24 win over Tennessee in Week 12, catching eight passes for a season-best 167 yards and scoring twice, including a season-long 63-yarder.

JSN set the franchise record for receiving yards in just the 11th game. His 1,313 yards are 10 more than DK Metcalf had in 16 games in 2020. JSN is on pace for 2,029 yards, which would break Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,964 from 2012 (in 16 games). JSN is just 0.4 yards per game behind Johnson’s pace through 12 weeks.

With JSN eligible for a contract extension after this season, it is time to start looking at what he will cost — and how it all fits with the rest of the roster.

Continue reading JSN is earning a big payday — let’s look ahead to 2026 →
Trades

Hawks ‘in the market’ for O-line help — what about Saints’ Ruiz?

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With the trade deadline days away, moves are being made and chatter is picking up – so let’s connect some possible dots around the Seahawks.

One of the big ones that emerged today was Saints guard Cesar Ruiz to Seattle – a move that conceivably would help the Hawks at right guard.

The Seahawks are “in the market” for an offensive lineman, per Jordan Schultz. And ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported: “Teams I’ve spoken to are under the impression that guard Cesar Ruiz might be available at the right price.”

Scuttlebutt is that “the right price” would be a third-round pick. That surely is too steep for John Schneider, but what if it came down to a 5 or 6 by next Tuesday’s deadline? Or what if it was a pick swap – maybe the Hawks give up a 3 and get back a 5? Ruiz is signed for two more years, so they would have a chance to get value out of such a deal.

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The roster, Trades

The promising future of the Hawks this year and beyond

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As the Seahawks take a week off to rest, self-evaluate and prepare for the final 10 games, they are in great position – both for this season and beyond.

At 5-2, they are one of seven NFC teams with a winning percentage over .700 – and right where we thought they would be, positioned for a second-half run into the playoffs.

By DVOA, they actually are rated the best team in the league – thanks to the top-ranked special teams and the No. 2 defense. Their net point differential (plus-57) is fifth.

The Hawks are blowing away Vegas projections, which had the Hawks finishing with seven or eight wins (a 7.5 over/under). We had predicted at least 11 wins. Well, this team is on a pace for 12. Looking at the rest of the schedule, the Hawks look capable of a 7-3 finish – thus a 12-5 record for the season.

This is clearly a playoff team. The bigger question: What happens once the playoffs arrive? Do the Hawks have what it takes to go all the way?

Let’s look at what they have and what they might need to make a Super Bowl run this year and beyond.

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NFL draft, Trades

Trade talk: Howell, Woolen — who else?

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When the Seahawks brought back Drew Lock last Friday, the first thought that came to mind was: Whither Sam Howell?

With Lock reportedly signed to a two-year deal, it sure seems to put Howell on the trade block.

The Hawks acquired Howell in a pick swap last year, getting a fourth and sixth while giving up a third and fifth. It was not a bad price to pay (equivalent of a fourth-rounder) for a look at a guy who had started a full season in the NFL and might be a possible long-term QB.

But Howell was no competition for Geno Smith and showed very poorly in clearly trying circumstances against the Packers late in the season.

John Schneider had said he looked forward to seeing Howell in Klint Kubiak’s offense because Ryan Grubb’s offense “wasn’t a good setup for him.” But now here comes Lock back, and he seems like as good a fit or better as the backup in Kubiak’s offense, which includes plenty of rollouts and bootlegs.

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Week 7: At Atlanta

Have Hawks learned enough about selves to start a new streak?

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Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks finally got themselves a quality win – and they needed it big time.

With a surprising 34-14 blowout of a red-hot Falcons team that had won three straight, the Hawks avoided the dreaded four-game losing skid that might have been the death knell for any playoff hopes (just one team out of 15 in Seattle history had overcome a streak of four or more losses to make the playoffs).

And now the question is whether they can sustain it.

“It was inevitable that (adversity) would happen, so you want to see a rebound,” Julian Love said. “We’re still learning how to win as a team. … We’re still building; we’re still learning who we are as a team.”

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Week 4: At Detroit

It was a memorable game the Hawks should just forget; better days ahead

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Now we know what happens to Mike Macdonald’s defense when you subtract five starters: It becomes latter-day Pete Carroll’s defense.

Without Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Byron Murphy and Jerome Baker, Seattle simply did not have the talent to stop Detroit’s complex and well-stocked offense Monday. The result was a rather predictable shootout win by Detroit, 42-29.

It was a memorable game, but one the Hawks and their fans are better off forgetting. Better days are ahead.

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Franchise history, NFL draft, The roster

Is a new homegrown defense in the offing?

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Byron Murphy said he loved watching the Legion of Boom Seahawks when he was a kid. (For some of us a decade is not that long ago, but for a 21-year-old it was half his lifetime ago.)

The LOB was a dominant defense with a core that John Schneider put together mostly through the 2010-12 drafts: Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, K.J. Wright, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Bruce Irvin. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett (Murphy’s favorite player on that defense) were the only core outside additions. And that group of stars dominated the NFL from 2012 to 2016.

Schneider has not been able to replicate that magic over the past decade. He had the perfect chance to do it again in 2016 and 2017, but he absolutely whiffed on most of his 11 picks on Days 1 and 2. Ever since those failures, he has been patching together his defense with trades for veterans.

But, thanks to three straight years with high picks in the draft, maybe he finally is building another core – this time for Mike Macdonald.

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NFL draft, The roster

Building around QB spot: Roster report after the draft

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The Seahawks may not yet know who their quarterback will be – Geno Smith, Drew Lock or someone else — but they certainly are building around that position.

For once, the Seahawks played the draft by the book – and the result looks like their best set of rookies in a decade.

They filled all of their most pressing needs except center — adding tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas, running back Kenneth Walker, pass rushers Boye Mafe and Tyreke Smith and corners Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen. They tossed in a pair of receivers/possible return guys in the seventh round.

The Seahawks got proper value for every pick. Cross, Lucas, Walker, Mafe and Bryant look like five foundational players – four who should be starters now or quite soon. Woolen is an intriguing project as well.

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