The NFL is a few weeks removed from the most active portion of free agency, but the offseason continues, and more available free agents will eventually sign with new teams. As for the Seattle Seahawks, they took their own losses in free agency, but also gained.
Seattle's most noteworthy gain was re-signing Rashid Shaheed (WR) to a three-year extension, while their most noteworthy loss was Kenneth Walker III (RB), who signed his own three-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, among other losses.
What this offseason's free agent losses will mean for the Seahawks when the 2026-27 season begins is a "wait and see" situation. That said, of the players the Seahawks lost, some within the NFL believe the aftershock of losing free agents will not necessarily drastically affect the Seahawks. In fact, according to an NFL insider, everyone Seattle lost is easily replaceable.
NFL insider Daniel Jeremiah believes the Seattle Seahawks will have no trouble replacing their lost free agents
Aside from Walker, the other more notable free agents the Seahawks also lost were Riq Woolen (CB), Boye Mafe (LB), and Cobe Bryant (S). All three defensive players were important in the Seahawks' Super Bowl-winning season, but according to Jeremiah, none of them, including Walker, are players who can't be replaced, as he recently stated on the Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk radio talk show.
“Not to be callous, but I think they all are replaceable,” Jeremiah said. “I think there’s good players, obviously, in that group of guys. But for the roles that they were playing and where they were – a lot of times you think about, man, you lose a left tackle or you lose your starting premier edge rusher or a defensive tackle. Like, those are going to require high picks or high dollars in free agency to replace. I think the guys that they lost, they can replace in second, third, fourth, fifth-round picks.”
The Seahawks will have four picks this year with one each in the first three rounds, and then a later one: a first-rounder (No. 32 overall), a second-rounder (No. 64), a third-rounder (No. 96), and a sixth-rounder (No. 188).
Jeremiah believes the Seahawks did the right thing by not overspending in free agency (he may be referring to the decision not to pay Shaheed and Walker). Instead, Jeremiah thinks the Seahawks, with much credit to general manager John Schneider, will have plenty of solid options in the draft to add to the Seahawks for next season.
“I think they’ll have opportunities, and I think this is a draft where it’s more of a quantity than a quality. So I think you would want some more pops out of it," Jeremiah continued. "They have conviction and belief in their process, and there’s proof in the pudding coming off of a Super Bowl. They didn’t overpay. They got the deals done that they felt were proper deals and fair deals and didn’t stretch it. And now they’ll rely on their talent acquisition as we go into the draft, which John’s been exceptional at."
Since the chips in free agency landed, there has been discussion about where the Seahawks now stand in their own division, the NFC West. The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers also landed some of their own new players. The Rams did their damage via trades, but they were still significant offseason acquisitions.
The Seahawks could still wind up being their division's best team next season, and whether they took a step back this offseason or not will only be determined next year. What should be expected is that the Seahawks will still have one of the league's top defenses, because if we were ranking players, the ones they lost to free agency don't overshadow the players who remain.
Schneider has done exceptionally well in the draft over the last two years. Byron Murphy, Nick Emmanwori, and Grey Zabel are a few of the names Schneider has picked, and all three have already shown great potential.
Furthermore, Schneider has shown a good sense of direction in signing undrafted players, such as Ty Okada and Drake Thomas (who originally signed with the Las Vegas Raiders before eventually landing in Seattle). Both players were UDFAs, and both seem to have found a place with the Seahawks.
The Seahawks should have no problem replacing those they lost; Schneider's track record is proof of that. As for who the Seahawks go after in the draft, let's hope there is a running back in there, because as it stands, the Seahawks are in need, over and above any other position group.