Seahawks win some, lose some in free agency
Published 9:10 am Tuesday, March 10, 2026
The Seattle Seahawks typically spend the start of free agency taking care of their own. This year was no different, with the Seahawks making just two moves on Monday, both agreements on deals to retain players.
The day also saw Seattle watching members of its 2022 NFL Draft class sign deals with other clubs. Outside linebacker Boye Mafe agreed to a three-year, $60 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, safety Coby Bryant agreed to a three-year, $40 million contract with the Chicago Bears and Ken Walker III agreed to a three-year, $45 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks kept two free agents from their Super Bowl team: Cornerback Josh Jobe agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal, and receiver Rashid Shaheed is coming back on a three-year, $51 million contract.
Cornerback Riq Woolen, receiver Dareke Young and offensive lineman Josh Jones have yet to reach agreements.
Here’s a look at the moves Seattle did and didn’t make on the first day that teams were able to enter agreements with unrestricted free agents. All stats are provided by TruMedia unless stated otherwise, and all contract and salary-cap info comes from Over the Cap.
The re-signings
Jobe and Shaheed were probably considered no-brainer signings internally for several reasons.
Three of Seattle’s top six defensive backs were free agents. Of those three, Jobe was always going to be the easiest re-sign. He couldn’t make the Philadelphia Eagles roster heading into his third NFL season. By the end of Year 4, he was a starting cornerback on the league’s best defense. Seattle helped develop Jobe into a high-end player at a premium position. At $8 million per year and a $4.6 million cap hit in Year 1, Jobe’s deal is both a nice pay raise for a former practice squad player and a steal for the team that knows him best.
General manager John Schneider joked that he begged the New Orleans Saints to give up Shaheed. Schneider had to outbid other suitors and cough up fourth- and fifth-round picks in next month’s NFL Draft to make it happen. The Seahawks probably wouldn’t have won the Super Bowl without Shaheed’s contributions as WR3 and one of the best return specialists in the league.
Schneider doesn’t always re-sign players on whom he spends via trade (he didn’t re-sign Jimmy Graham, Sheldon Richardson or Jadeveon Clowney). But beyond Shaheed’s impact on the 2025 season, Seattle had a legitimate need for a player with his skill set in 2026 and beyond.
The interesting part about the Shaheed signing is what it will mean at wide receiver in 2026. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the No. 1, and Shaheed’s new contract suggests a demotion for Cooper Kupp, who turns 33 in June. Last season, Kupp was second on the team in targets (70) and receiving yards (593), and third in catches (47) behind tight end AJ Barner. Kupp’s 2026 cap hit is $17.4 million, fourth-highest on the team behind Sam Darnold, Leonard Williams and Uchenna Nwosu. Shaheed’s cap hit in Year 1 will be $9.7 million.
One of either Shaheed or Kupp will be a pricey WR3, not to mention Tory Horton — who had 13 catches for 161 yards and five touchdowns in eight games — coming back into the fold, assuming he makes a full recovery from the shin injury that ended his rookie season.
It’s worth noting that Seattle also re-signed inside linebacker Drake Thomas to a two-year, $8 million deal last week. His cap hit in 2026 is $3.5 million. Thomas, 26, was a restricted free agent, but Seattle opted to retain his rights for two years rather than tender him on a one-year contract. The Seahawks have their starting linebackers under contract through 2027. All-Pro inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV signed a three-year, $28.5 million contract last offseason.
The departures
All three departures from Day 1 of free agency align with the scuttlebutt from the NFL Scouting Combine. Teams don’t typically spend big on outside help at running back, but when they do, they want it to be on a player who will deliver explosive plays. Walker has been a big play waiting to happen since he entered the NFL. In his farewell to Walker, Barner wrote on Instagram: “Just block and be ready to let go (because) K9 can take it WHEREVER.” The Chiefs needed a running back with that skill set.
Over the last decade and change, Seattle has valued running backs in the draft more than in free agency. Marshawn Lynch’s last multiyear contract with the Seahawks was a two-year, $24 million extension in 2015. Since then, only Chris Carson (two years, $10.4 million) has received a second contract from the Seahawks. Meanwhile, Seattle used a first-round pick on Rashaad Penny (27th) and second-round picks on Walker (41st) and Zach Charbonnet (52nd).
Seattle has the Nos. 32, 64 and 96 picks in April. One of those is probably going to be used on a running back. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler recently mocked Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price to the Seahawks with the 64th pick. That would make a lot of sense given Walker’s departure and that Charbonnet is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in January.
As for veteran options, the following players from The Athletic’s list of the Top 150 free agents are still available: Aaron Jones, Emanuel Wilson, Michael Carter, Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco.
After a few days at the combine in Indianapolis, it was clear that Mafe had more value to other teams than the Seahawks. He’s a young player at a premium who has good advanced metrics. He just couldn’t get the snaps to be a high-volume statistical producer while playing behind DeMarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu.
Although the full details of Mafe’s deal with the Bengals are not yet available, a contract in that range was probably a non-starter for Seattle, which still has Lawrence, Nwosu and Derick Hall under contract in 2026. At 296 pounds, 2025 fifth-round pick Rylie Mills is a different type of player than Mafe, but he’s probably also factored into Seattle’s defensive line plan this season.
Lawrence turns 34 in April, and Nwosu will be 30 in December, so there’s an argument that retaining Mafe would have been good for Seattle’s long-term outlook on the edge. But Hall turns 25 next week and is eligible for an extension if Seattle wants to lock up one of its young guys up front. The veteran options among the top remaining edge rushers are Trey Hendrickson, Joey Bosa, K’Lavon Chaisson, Clowney, Cam Jordan, Jacob Martin, Leonard Floyd and Von Miller
It felt like Bryant could have returned to the Seahawks, depending on the price. His contract with the Bears is backloaded, and his 2026 cap hit is just $5.9 million. The Seahawks could have agreed to a similar structure to keep Bryant at a reasonable number in Year 1. But Bryant’s 2027 base salary of $12.2 million is fully guaranteed. Agreeing to those terms would have been a pivot from Seattle’s typical contract structure.
Tendering Ty Okada as an exclusive rights free agent was likely part of the math when Seattle was negotiating with Bryant’s representatives. Okada, who turns 27 in June, will make the league minimum in 2027 after starting 11 of 17 regular-season games as an injury replacement for Julian Love (nine games) and Bryant (two games). Neither Love nor Okada play post-safety as well as Bryant, though, so free safety is still a position of need. The Seahawks might just address it in the draft — where the class is very deep — or go with a cheaper veteran.
Draft impact
In addition to its own selections through the first three rounds, Seattle has Cleveland’s sixth-round pick in the upcoming draft.
My mock draft last week had the Seahawks trading back with the quarterback-needy Arizona Cardinals and selecting five players at the following positions: edge rusher, safety, cornerback, running back and interior offensive line. The first day of free agency hasn’t done anything to change my view of Seattle’s needs, outside of perhaps pushing running back up the board (re-signing Woolen would also lessen the need to draft a corner).
The Seahawks are in play for a 2027 fourth-round compensatory pick for losing Mafe, a fifth-round compensatory pick for losing Bryant and another fifth for losing Walker, according to Nick Korte of Over the Cap. Any lucrative contracts for external free agents would impact Seattle’s compensatory pick count, but for now, the team is in line to have extra capital next year because of its losses this offseason.
