General manager John Schneider has made a number of elite changes to the Seattle Seahawks over the last two seasons. While he didn't have roster control while Pete Carroll was still employed with the team, one might not know it. Schneider's brilliance implies he's been running the team in full for decades.
Had he been instead of Carroll, one might rightly wonder if Seattle would have taken the dip it did for a few years. Now, with Carroll gone, Schneider has the team just one win away from making a Super Bowl appearance. A big reason for that success is midseason acquisition Rashid Shaheed.
Seattle pried Shaheed from the New Orleans Saints for two mid-round 2026 draft picks. The deal turned out to be a steal for the Seahawks, no matter what the Saints do in the draft. Shaheed has scored a total of three touchdowns for Seattle, and all have come on special teams.
Mike Macdonald is rightfully appreciative of Seattle Seahawks' Rashid Shaheed
But he is so much more than a kick and punt returner. In fact, against the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle's destruction of them in the Divisional Round, Shaheed had as many rushing attempts as pass targets. He could see even more of the former moving forward in the playoffs after Zach Charbonnet tore his ACL against the 49ers.
It is Shaheed's versatility that makes him so dangerous for the Seahawks. He has to be accounted for in every facet of the game, except defensively, and one should not rule out that he would be effective there, too. As a kick returner, he immediately set the tone against San Francisco by returning the opening kick 95 yards for a touchdown.
His head coach, Mike Macdonald, is clearly appreciative of what Rashid Shaheed is capable of accomplishing. The coach likely knows that his team would not have gone 14-3 in the regular season without the all-purpose player.
According to Pro Football Talk, Macdonald said of Shaheed, "From my perspective, the coaches’ perspective, he’s a player we really respect. When he’s catching the ball on kick return, you’re like, ‘Here we go, we’ve got to contain this guy.’ When he’s on the field on offense, you can’t let him get behind you, and the receiver run game is something you have to account for as well. It really does help the team big-time."
Even when Shaheed isn't getting the ball, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who also coached the wide receiver in New Orleans in 2024, moves the player around in his alignments. This forces defenses to have to account for Shaheed. He might line up in the backfield and run a route, or run the ball on a jet sweep after lining up in the slot.
Rashid Shaheed has created a situation for the Seattle Seahawks where he has gone from not being part of the team at the beginning of the season to a free agent that John Schneider has to make a priority to bring back. He is getting ever more expensive, most likely, but he is worth every penny in a new deal.