The joy from the Seattle Seahawks defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX will never go away. It is a memory that players, coaches, and 12s will always have. That is reality.
What is also reality is that the offseason begins quickly. Free agency begins in mid-March, and the NFL draft follows in April. In other words, the team has a month to make many quick decisions on how it wants to move forward to try to repeat in 2026.
And the Seahawks should have a good chance of repeating. The team has a great mix of young players on their rookie deals and veterans still wanting to achieve high-end success. One championship likely isn't enough. The issue for the three people below is that they might not be around next season to be part of a repeat.
These three Seattle Seahawks could easily not be around for a Super Bowl repeat (one definitely won't)
Cornerback Riq Woolen
Woolen is capable of excellence, of course, as he led the NFL in interceptions with six in his rookie season. He also made the Pro Bowl that year (2022). Since then, his career has been a bit of a mercurial mess. He's been disciplined by the team for breaking a team rule (Week 15 of 2024), and he's seen fewer snaps due to a lack of efficiency.
He also almost went full Bill Buckner in the NFC Championship as he single-handedly kept the Los Angeles Rams in the game with a penalty for unnecessary roughness and then gave up a long touchdown pass on the next play. In the Super Bowl, he allowed four completions on five targets, including a 35-yard touchdown pass.
Woolen will likely be exposed on a new team that doesn't have Seattle's depth, but another team might also pay him $15 million or more per season. The Seahawks know better than to pay that.
Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak
This one is obvious, of course, but shouldn't go without mention. What Kubiak was able to do with the offense, which had a new quarterback and didn't have DK Metcalf, in one season was incredible, especially after Ryan Grubb was an utter failure in the previous season as the offensive coordinator.
Which coaches, if any, Kubiak takes with him to the Las Vegas Raiders, where he will be the new head coach, will be key. Offensive line coach John Benton is a candidate, as he worked with Kubiak when both were with the New Orleans Saints in 2024. Benton made a bad Seahawks offensive line into a solid one.
Somewhat ironically, the 38-year-old Kubiak will replace another former Seattle coach in Vegas, the 74-year-old Pete Carroll. The hope is that the Raiders give Kubiak a bit more time to rebuild the team than they did Carroll. The latter was one-and-done in Las Vegas.
Wide receiver Rashid Shaheed
Shaheed's leaving would be difficult, but like John Benton, the wide receiver also worked with Kubiak with the Saints. Shaheed knows what Kubiak needs, and the coach knows how to use the wide receiver, both offensively and on special teams. Shaheed is the kind of game-changing player that every team needs.
As a punt and kick returner, Shaheed saved at least two games for the Seattle Seahawks. The most important was Week 16 when he returned a punt for a touchdown with his team trailing 30-14 to the Los Angeles Rams. General manager John Schneider needs to find a way to keep the wide receiver in free agency so he can keep making those kinds of plays for Seattle.