When you are the defending Super Bowl champions and have one of the league’s youngest rosters, the pressure to nail the offseason may be a little bit diminished. But I doubt you could convince Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider of that fact.
Not when other teams come poaching your top available free agents, and your two biggest rivals continue to make very aggressive roster moves.
Pro Football Focus (subscription required) just released an analysis of all 32 NFL teams’ transactions in the first week of free agency, 2026. As you might expect, the reigning GM of the Year, Schneider, came off reasonably well. The problem is that his counterparts in Los Angeles and San Francisco scored even higher.
The Seattle Seahawks score well in the latest offseason rankings, but is it enough?
Not much separated the Seahawks, Rams, and 49ers last season. The three contests between Seattle and the Rams were all nailbiters. They were, without question, the two best teams in the NFL in 2025. When healthy, San Francisco was not far behind. So how has Schneider fared so far this offseason in trying to keep pace with what his colleagues to the south are doing?
Super Bowl champs are usually in a defensive posture after winning the big game. Other teams descend upon them, looking to snatch up what is typically a surplus of talent.
Schneider knew he would be losing some very good players this offseason. His first job was to prioritize which ones he wanted to retain.
From the outside, it appears as if Schneider was looking at two one-on-one matchups. He had two big-time offensive playmakers in Kenneth Walker III and Rashid Shaheed, and two starting-caliber cornerbacks in Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen. The GM likely determined he could afford one from each pair, but not both.
When it comes to the cornerbacks, PFF did not think much of the decision. They rated the re-signing of Josh Jobe as “below average,” based on their assessment of Jobe’s individual performance last season. At the same time, they rated Woolen’s deal with Philadelphia (just one year, but at a higher annual price than Jobe) as “above average."
On the other hand, the PFF writers did like the decision Schneider made regarding his offense. They gave both the Shaheed extension and the deal Walker got with Kansas City as “average.”
But they loved signing Emanuel Wilson as a stand-in for Walker. They pointed out Wilson's outstanding rushing grade in limited usage and thought he would be a very good complement to Zach Charbonnet in the backfield.
I remain unconvinced on both counts. There’s no question that Riq Woolen’s upside is higher than that of Josh Jobe. But he has been too mercurial over his time in Seattle.
Jobe has proven he can be a very steady performer in Mike Macdonald’s defense, and quite frankly, with talents like Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love, and Nick Emmanwori surrounding him, “steady” is exactly what is needed to make the Dark Side function.
I do not doubt Charbonnet and Wilson will be a decent tandem in the backfield. But I continue to beat the drum about the value that Walker added to this offense. His price tag grew too high, and Schneider was probably right to bow out of a bidding war.
If recent reports from beat writer Gregg Bell are correct, this was essentially a foregone conclusion from early in the season. I certainly hope Wilson is able to supply explosive plays out of the backfield, but I am skeptical. And I think Seattle’s offense will struggle as a result.
That doesn’t mean they won’t continue to win at a high level. They have too much talent on both sides of the ball, and the coaching is too good for the Hawks to regress in a major way. The problem is – look at what the Rams and 49ers have done this offseason.
Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson should be major upgrades for the Rams’ 2025 Achilles Heel – their secondary. Mike Evans and Christian Kirk will give the 49ers the best group of receivers Brock Purdy has ever had. Plus, they just brought back Dre Greenlaw.
Neither of Seattle’s biggest rivals is standing still. We’ll soon find out if Schneider’s less aggressive maneuvers will keep Seattle out in front in the NFL’s toughest division.