Rashid Shaheed arrived in Seattle with a résumé that hinted at more than he’d been allowed to show.
For most of his time with the New Orleans Saints, stability at quarterback was basically a luxury item he never got to enjoy. In four partial seasons there, he caught passes from five different quarterbacks.
His rookie year in 2022 set the tone: he sat out the first five games while recovering from an MCL tear suffered in his final college game, then found enough chemistry with Andy Dalton to lead the Saints in receiving in four of their final five contests. After that came more turnover.
Dalton was replaced by Derek Carr to open 2023, Shaheed later missed the final five games with a torn meniscus, and by the time he returned for the 2025 season, Spencer Rattler was throwing him the ball. When the Saints traded him to Seattle midway through that season, Tyler Shough was the quarterback in the picture.
That’s the backdrop for why Shaheed could be such a wild card for the Seahawks in 2026.
Seattle lost Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III to free agency this offseason, but the offense still has plenty of punch. Aaron Zacharias recently made the case that Shaheed is the fourth-most important piece on the unit, behind Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Jadarian Price.
That’s a fair read. But Shaheed feels like the guy who could swing the whole thing the most.
Price should be solid as a rookie, but there’s no guarantee he brings the kind of explosive plays Walker did a year ago. With Zach Charbonnet’s production also up in the air, Brian Fleury may have to lean harder on the passing game.
Smith-Njigba, meanwhile, is coming off such a huge 2025 that even a slight dip would still leave him in elite territory. Darnold matters, of course, but that’s true for any team with real ambitions at quarterback.
Shaheed is the one who could jump from good to game-changing.
That belief starts with something he hasn’t really had before: continuity. For the first time in his career, he’s working with a quarterback situation that actually gives him a chance to build something.
There have already been reports about how much time he and his quarterback have spent together this offseason. Last year didn’t allow for that kind of work, with Shaheed arriving in the middle of a playoff race.
There were always two questions hanging over him when he came out of Weber State in 2022. One was health.
The torn MCL he suffered in his final college game was the second major knee injury of his time there, and that helped explain why such a gifted athlete went undrafted. The other was production.
Shaheed did pile up numbers in college - 147 catches and more than 2,000 yards - but over five seasons at the FCS level, those totals looked more solid than spectacular. What stood out at Weber State was his speed, his return ability, and the fact that he was a dangerous pass catcher without being a volume guy.
That’s pretty much how Seattle saw him last season too. He mattered, but more as a return man than as a receiver. Through four NFL seasons, he has never gone past 720 receiving yards, and he has averaged three touchdown catches a year.
The Seahawks have other options in the passing game behind Smith-Njigba. Cooper Kupp and Tory Horton sit on opposite ends of their careers, and either one could make a splash. At tight end, AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo should give the offense a useful one-two punch.
But none of them carries Shaheed’s ceiling.
That’s why John Schneider’s decision to keep him around for three years and more than 50 million dollars stands out. If Shaheed finally gets the kind of quarterback setup and offensive environment that lets his receiving talent breathe, that number could end up looking awfully smart. And if he comes close to that upside, the rest of the league will notice fast.
In Other News...
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For Seahawks fans, that means the series could offer a look at the organization that goes beyond the practice field and depth-chart intrigue. Campens comments suggest the cameras found a group that is comfortable around one another and a coach whose presence shapes the room, which should make the early episodes worth watching even before the football gets serious. And while Campen also mentioned interest in future coverage of Green Bay, Seattles turn on Hard Knocks already has the ingredients for a revealing behind-the-scenes run. [Read more 🡒]
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Tory Horton Is Giving Seahawks A Tough Receiver Decision
Tory Horton has made training camp feel a little more crowded for the Seahawks receiver room. After working his way back from a fractured leg, the young wideout has stood out with a strong summer, putting himself squarely in the conversation for a bigger offensive role as Seattle continues to sort out how its passing game will be distributed.
The Seahawks have already invested in pass catchers such as Rashid Shaheed and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, which makes Hortons emergence more than just a nice camp story. If he keeps building on this start, Seattle will have a real decision to make about how much to lean on him, even as the team stays mindful of his injury history and the need to keep him available once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]