Richard Sherman isn’t buying the idea that the Seattle Seahawks are about to come back to the pack.
On his latest podcast, the former Seahawks cornerback made the case that Mike Macdonald’s group still has the look of a team built to keep rolling in 2026, even with the spotlight and the target that comes with being defending champions.
“If Sam Darnold plays at the level that he did during the playoffs last season, they’re going to be a tough outfit to beat,” Sherman said. “They haven’t lost a game since they lost that game to the Rams where they turned it over four times, he had four interceptions, and even then they lost because the field goal fell a few yards short. So you think about that and you think, hey man, the last time they were beat, it was a game where they still technically could’ve won.”
That’s the heart of Sherman’s argument: Seattle has been that good, and the last real blemish on the resume came in a game that still nearly went their way. The Seahawks went on to be utterly dominant in 2025, building off a double-digit-win first season and reaching the final game of the campaign.
Now they open 2026 with a Super Bowl LX rematch against the New England Patriots, and Sherman is clearly not worried about the matchup. He pointed to the way the roster has held together, with most of the championship core still in place, as a major reason to expect another strong run.
Even so, the Seahawks aren’t spotless. Losing reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III is a significant hit, and there’s still uncertainty around Jadarian Price, who didn’t suit up in the preseason. But Sherman’s broader point is about continuity, and Seattle still has plenty of it.
That matters in a league where repeating is brutally hard. Going back-to-back takes a toll, and the list of teams that have pulled it off is short for a reason.
Sherman knows that better than most. He was right there with Pete Carroll’s Seahawks in 2014 and 2015, one infamous call away from consecutive titles.
So while Sherman’s ties to the organization are obvious, his backing of this team doesn’t come out of nowhere. He’s seen what a special group looks like.
Seattle also brings plenty of the ingredients that made last season’s title run possible: a sharp defensive mind, the defending Offensive Player of the Year, a loaded pass rush, and a roster full of players who have already handled the biggest stage. That’s why Sherman sees a team that may actually be stronger now than it was before winning it all.
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Arnold is one of three players the league moved to the exempt list, alongside Denver linebacker Jonathon Cooper and Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs, each facing separate legal issues. For Seattle, the immediate impact is mostly about planning and optics, but the larger problem is harder to ignore: a defensive backfield already trying to settle into game-week routine now has to do it with one of its key names suddenly unavailable and the timeline for resolution still unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
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For John Schneider and Mike Macdonald, the appeal appears to go beyond one role. Smith is seen as a smart, reliable player who can help in the nickel and on special teams, the sort of piece that can push the Seahawks third-cornerback battle into a tougher, more interesting springboard for the rest of the roster. In a competition where every rep matters, adding a player with that kind of versatility only raises the pressure on everyone else trying to stick. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Could Have An Unexpected Receiver Battle Brewing
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For Seattle, a tryout like this is less about headlines than about finding out whether a player can push for a spot in a crowded room. Floriea arrives with a chance to make a case, and the Seahawks will get a firsthand look at whether his camp momentum can carry over into a roster fight that still has room for another intriguing name. [Read more 🡒]