Maurice Kelly has seen a little of everything in two decades working as the Seattle Seahawks’ vice president of player affairs, so his opinion carries weight with everyone in the organization. In 2022, he gave outside linebacker Boye Mafe a message he’ll never forget.
“Mo Kelly told me our rookie year that we were going to be the class to change things around here,” Mafe said as his teammates emptied their lockers two days after winning the Super Bowl. “Ever since then I always knew we would be a great class.”
Kelly was right.
Mafe’s 2022 draft class is one of the best hauls of the John Schneider era. Armed with extra capital from the trade that sent Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, Seattle selected left tackle Charles Cross (ninth overall), Mafe (40th), running back Ken Walker III (41st), right tackle Abe Lucas (72nd), safety Coby Bryant (109th), cornerback Riq Woolen (153rd), outside linebacker Tyreke Smith (158th) and receivers Bo Melton (229th) and Dareke Young (233rd).
Smith and Melton are no longer with the team. The other seven have been contributors since the beginning and played a significant role in the Seahawks becoming world champions. The 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 may have been their final game together. Lucas signed a three-year, $46 million extension in September and Cross signed a four-year, $104.4 million contract extension in August. The remaining members are going to be free agents when the new league year begins March 11.
The 2022 class makes up most of the notable players on Seattle’s impending free agent list this offseason. Here we’ll rank Seattle’s free agents by appeal to other clubs if they hit the open market. The ages in parentheses denote how old players will be at the start of the 2026 season. Contract data will be provided by Over the Cap, which lists Seattle with $72.2 million in cap space. All stats by TruMedia unless stated otherwise.
CB Riq Woolen (27)
At 6-foot-4 with 33 5/8-inch arms and 4.26 speed, Woolen has a unique physical profile paired with elite coverage ability. After giving up two big plays that cost Seattle its season opener, Woolen bounced back and had one of his best seasons in coverage and as a tackler.
In the regular season, Woolen allowed a passer rating of 78.5, the 25th-lowest among corners with at least 200 snaps in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus. He ranked one spot behind Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro cornerback Cooper DeJean and two spots ahead of Carolina Panthers Pro Bowler Jaycee Horn. Woolen allowed three touchdowns – a pair of 1-yard receptions to Rams receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, and another to 49ers tight end Jake Tonges in Week 1 – and had eight pass breakups and an interception. Woolen surrendered three scores in the postseason – two to Adams and Nacua – and had a pair of pass breakups.
Woolen said he feels “great” about the season he had.
“I played a true complete year of tackling, playing the ball, making plays and just contributing towards my team,” Woolen said. “… I feel like I’ve just grown and became a better player throughout each year. And I feel like every obstacle that’s thrown my way, I’ve overcame every single one of them.”
Woolen was essentially Seattle’s No. 3 outside cornerback but would upgrade several secondaries if signed elsewhere. In 2021, Shaquill Griffin left Seattle and signed a three-year, $40 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars that would be worth around $22 million per year under the updated salary cap. Woolen may not command that much but like Griffin back then, Woolen should have multiple suitors.
WR Rashid Shaheed (28)
Shaheed played 12 games as a Seahawk, including the playoffs, after being acquired from the New Orleans Saints in November. He caught 18 passes for 266 yards and produced 10 first downs on three targets per game. Shaheed rushed for 86 yards and generated four first downs on 11 attempts.
Shaheed’s biggest impact came on special teams; he was voted to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist. As a Seahawk, Shaheed averaged 32.5 yards per kickoff return with two touchdowns on 18 attempts (postseason included); the New York Jets’ Isaiah Williams led the league with an average of 29.9 yards on 28 returns in the regular season. As Seattle’s punt returner, Shaheed averaged 15.1 yards per return with one touchdown; Chimere Dike of the Tennessee Titans led the league (17.3).
Although Shaheed contributed more as a specialist, it’s easy to envision receiver-needy teams feeling as if his game-changing speed would transform their passing offense with a higher target share. Shaheed wants to re-sign with Seattle. If that doesn’t come to fruition, he’d have suitors in a market where even No. 2 receivers can command $20 million-per-year deals.
RB Ken Walker III (25)
Walker’s value is the highest it has ever been coming off an excellent postseason run that resulted in winning Super Bowl MVP. In the postseason, Walker rushed for 313 yards and four touchdowns on 4.8 yards per attempt. He had a below-average success rate (36.9 percent) but generated first downs at a high rate (26.2) relative to the league average in the regular season. Walker also caught nine passes for 104 yards and generated seven first downs in the postseason.
Walker played in all 17 games and had a productive regular season — 1,027 yards, five touchdowns, 4.6 yards per attempt — while splitting reps with Zach Charbonnet, whose ACL tear in the divisional round set the stage for his running mate’s postseason breakout. Walker has always been one of Seattle’s most explosive players and he put that on display for everyone to see when it mattered most.
Schneider doesn’t often re-sign running backs to lucrative deals. A relevant comp may be the two-year, $10.4 million deal Chris Carson signed in 2021. A salary cap-adjusted version of that deal would be around $8 million per year, which would be outside the top 10 among running backs.
CB Josh Jobe (28)
Jobe excelled in a very tough role as the primary press-man corner in Seattle’s defense, often aligning opposite the team’s best outside receiver with no safety help. He’s also an excellent tackler and very physical in coverage.
In the regular season, he allowed a passer rating of 75.2, which ranked 18th among cornerbacks, according to PFF. Jobe gave up three touchdowns, had one interception and nine pass breakups. In the postseason, Jobe allowed a passer rating of 67.1 and recorded one pass breakup (in the Super Bowl) and didn’t allow any scores. After playing on a one-year, $1.3 million deal in 2025, Jobe is due for a significant raise. As for a comp, Jobe reminds me of D.J. Reed, who after a couple good seasons in Seattle signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Jets (that’d be worth around $16 million per year now).
“I would love to be back here,” Jobe said.
S Coby Bryant (27)
Bryant just finished his first full season as a starting safety, and it was the best year of his career. Traditional stats don’t properly capture the impact of a free safety, but Bryant did have a career-high four interceptions along with four tackles for loss, four run stuffs (tackles for no gain) and a forced fumble. He was also the vocal leader in the secondary. The simplest way to view Bryant’s impact is to try and recall how many deep post and seam routes the team allowed when he was on the field. There weren’t many.
When Bryant missed the final two regular-season games, Julian Love replaced him as the free safety, and Ty Okada, who can be re-signed on a minimum salary, took over Love’s role as the strong safety (basically the guy on the short side of the field, often closer to the action). Love has two years remaining on a deal paying him $11 million per year. Bryant may be able to command something similar, either with Seattle or someone else.
EDGE Boye Mafe (27)
Mafe had one of his least productive seasons by sacks (two), tackles for loss (two) and run stuffs (one) and quarterback hits (four). His pressure rate (12.7) was also lower than it had been the previous two years but he was once again among the league leaders in pass rush win rate, ranking eighth among edge rushers, according to ESPN.
Mafe is in a similar position as Uchenna Nwosu, who spent most of his rookie contract with the Los Angeles Chargers behind talented edge rushers Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa. Nwosu just needed an opportunity to shine, which is why he signed with Seattle in March 2022 on a two-year, $19 million deal.
With Nwosu, DeMarcus Lawrence and Derick Hall all under contract in 2026, Mafe could likely become a starter somewhere else and get paid accordingly or negotiate a team-friendly deal to stay in Seattle’s rotation. A salary cap-adjusted version of Nwosu’s 2022 deal with Seattle would be north of $13 million per year. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Mafe command a free agent deal in that range, which wouldn’t even be a top 25 edge rusher salary, given his age and upside.
OT Josh Jones (29)
Jones made three starts at left tackle in Weeks 16-18 and allowed two sacks and a pressure rate of 8.7 percent, which is high given the small sample. But Jones signed a $4 million deal to be a swing tackle who could give Seattle decent play in a pinch, and he was able to deliver in the three biggest games of the regular season. When trying to contend for a title, veterans like Jones are critical depth pieces.
It would make sense for Seattle to re-sign Jones. There’s also a scenario in which Jones signs elsewhere, and Seattle continues to develop the three rookies it acquired last season: Amari Kight, Mason Richman and Bryce Cabeldue.
WR Dareke Young (27)
Including the playoffs, Young played more snaps on special teams (213) than on offense (68) this season. In four seasons, Young caught four passes for 72 yards in the regular season.
Young is a valuable special teams player but the same is true of receiver Jake Bobo and tight end Brady Russell, two restricted free agents this offseason. The careers of guys like Neiko Thorpe and Nick Bellore show that Schneider will re-sign special teamers, so there’s a chance that one of either Young, Russell or Bobo will be retained this offseason.
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