Seattle started the 2025 season off with a whisper they might be better than expected, but you may recall they were not an early favorite to win their division, maybe not even to make the playoffs. Coming off a 10-7 season where they missed the playoffs, Las Vegas had their projected wins at 8.5 and listed them at +6000 to make the Super Bowl.
Going into last season, the top oddsmakers saw the Seahawks as the 19th worst bet in the NFL.
Fast forward a year and they are the reigning champions, after storming through the playoffs following a surprising regular season in which they won their division and were the top seed in the NFC at 14-3. It all came together in the end, but plenty of questions lingered heading into the final act of the season, and many will likely carry over into this season despite how it ended in February.
As tremendous as that ending was, the NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” league, and when the regular season kicks off in Seattle on September 9th, the Seahawks will have just as blank a slate as the other 31 teams in the league. They’ll have to prove they are the champs, and every team will take their best shot every week.
They won’t have the luxury of flying under the radar this season. They will have to prove it every week or have you hear critics call them out. That’s how it is when you’re the best; everyone roots for you to stumble. It’s amazing to be a dynasty, but all the other teams hate it since it means you’re accomplishing something they aren’t.
Seattle will have sky-high expectations not to take a step backward and become the first team to successfully defend their title since the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs, who were the first repeat champions since the 2004 New England Patriots. It’s a tall order, but for a town known for its coffee, Seattle should be able to deliver. The question is, will they?
The defense carried the team during the season, and while defense and special teams absolutely won the divisional round, the offense really clicked when it mattered most. The 2026 Vince Lombardi Trophy would not be on display at team headquarters (VMAC) in Renton without timely performances from the offense in the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl. The defense played well above expectations in those games, but the offense ultimately won them.
The defense is mostly back, with only a couple of key departures. Safety Coby Bryant signed with Chicago, but he will be on the shelf after a knee injury in training camp threatens to sideline him for the majority of the season. Defensive end Boye Mafe signed with Cincinnati, and cornerback Tariq Woolen signed with Philadelphia. None of those guys are irreplaceable – Bryant was the only starter of the three while Mafe and Woolen were part of a deep supporting cast that rotated a lot of players to give offenses so many looks and confuse the hell out of opposing QBs. Their departures will shuffle the depth at three key positions and put someone on the field the coaching staff didn’t think needed to be out there just a few months ago.
Offense is a little more in flux. QB Sam Darnold is back, but running back is a position we will have to watch. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III signed with Kansas City, and his backfield mate Zach Charbonnett injured his knee in the divisional round and missed the rest of the playoffs. The hope is Charbonnett will be back sometime during the first few weeks of the season, but we will see how accurate that timeline is, and he will likely need to be eased back into the rotation. That leaves rookie first-round pick Jadarian Price leading the backfield in the early part of the season, and he has turned heads in training camp and has the look of a three-down back. Seattle runs a “Shanahan” system and will rotate backs, so even if a player has three-down ability, they will make sure no one gets run into the ground. Price split time at Notre Dame with Jeremiyah Love in college, so he’s not a stranger to that type of system anyway and comes to town with lower miles than a lot of rookies, so keeping him fresh won’t be a challenge. Still, he will need to adjust to the speed and size of defenders at the pro level.
The biggest question on offense is the coaching staff. Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak is now the head coach in Las Vegas and has been replaced by Brian Fleury, who last served as the tight ends coach in San Francisco. Kubiak turned out to be one of the most creative offensive minds in the league after arriving in Seattle just a season ago and rode his nuclear season to a new gig less than a year after signing up for this one. Four of Kubiak’s assistant coaches left the team in the offseason, so we will have to wait and see how much continuity carries over from last season when the offense finally found its footing in the second half of the schedule. New OC Fleury has never called plays before, so while he might have a good amount of experience preparing teams for an opponent, he doesn’t have experience calling plays against a live defense. That will be a very important thing to watch; the last time Seattle picked a first-time play caller, they also came from a division rival. His name was Shane Waldron, and it didn’t pan out. It doesn’t mean this new situation can’t work, but it’s important to remember that not every guy from a good system is a diamond waiting to be uncovered. We will find out what they have when Fleury’s offense takes the field on September 9th, and it might be clunkier than what we saw in February as everyone gets used to new wrinkles.
With the starting running back replaced, a new face in the rotation, and nearly the entire offensive staff responsible for last season’s running success gone, it could still work out fine. Still, it could be a bumpy start to the Seahawks’ title defense.
Speaking of bumps on defense, Seattle is expected to sign cornerback Terrion Arnold. While Arnold has 1st-round ability as a former high draft pick in Detroit, he faces serious legal charges. He may not be available to play anytime soon, as he is expected to land on the commissioner’s exempt list, which would make him ineligible until further notice. The case against him has some questionable holes, so it’s possible he will not be charged in the end, but until the legal system works it out, he may not be eligible to participate in practices or games. Seattle is also planning to work out Trevon Diggs, and it could be the front office leaving no stone unturned, but it could also mean they aren’t thrilled with how reserve players at that position have looked so far in camp. Both players are low-risk additions, but it’s an odd move to introduce potential distractions to a team that can’t afford any.
Going into the season, the starters for Seattle are largely the same as they were in the Super Bowl with a few exceptions, which is impressive since a lot of champions see a larger purge of their players in the offseason. Seattle extended top corner Devon Witherspoon to the richest contract ever for a cornerback, which will be a relief for the front office and Witherspoon, so both sides can focus on the season and repeating as not just champions but the league’s number-one defense. With so much passing in today’s NFL, teams cannot hope to compete without a top corner to help slow the opponent’s best receiver. Witherspoon may not be indisputable as the best corner in the NFL. Still, he’s definitely in the top five, and absolutely one of the most versatile, as Macdonald can feature him at corner, safety, linebacker, and send him on blitzes. He has a skill set not common for guys at his position. He’s like a mix of Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor – in essence, every defensive coach’s dream player.
Seattle has veterans on both sides of the ball and the coaching staff to make this work, but it’s enough change from who and what they were last season that we will have to see how it works out. The last time Seattle defended their title was in 2014 with an entirely different roster and coaching staff, so we can’t deduce anything from what happened then to predict what might happen now. The only connection between that team and this one is that they wore the same uniform and were the defending champions. Everyone and everything else is different; they might as well be in different dimensions. One thing we can take away from that season is that the team struggled to maintain its identity as the impossible-to-score-on defense and went through some tough games. They found their way late in the season and had a special run in the playoffs, but it wasn’t quite the same. This year’s team needs to expect some punches they don’t see coming and have a plan on how they will adapt when adversity strikes.
Even with some questions going into the season, Seattle has a great chance to defend their title, but they have just as good of a chance to be the next team to suffer the Super Bowl slump that many defending champs struggle with. If Seattle can put it all together again, they will get another chance to win a title on the home field of a hated rival. They won the Super Bowl this year in the stadium the 49ers call home, and in 2027 the game will be played at the Rams’ home stadium. What a feat that would be to repeat as champions and do it on the field of a hated rival.
The season kicks off on September 9th, and Seattle is listed as the third-best bet to win it all this year at +1100.
Not anywhere close to where they were last year, but still an interesting twist given that they are the defending champs. The Rams are the current favorites at +500, and that might be all the inspiration Seattle needs to start their season with a chip on their shoulder. Nothing motivates a team quite like being disrespected.
Three weeks remain in the offseason, and on Wednesday, September 9th, the season kicks off in Seattle as the defending champions begin their 2026 campaign.
We may not know what to expect from Seattle this season, but we do know they made fools of anyone who bet against them last year.
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