The Seattle Seahawks are back at work for the 2026 NFL season, with veterans already on the field alongside the rookies at training camp. They arrive as defending Super Bowl champions, even if the national conversation has spent most of the offseason acting like that part barely happened.
Instead, the buzz around the NFC has tilted toward the Los Angeles Rams and their additions, leaving Seattle in the background. That’s where the latest storyline has formed: quarterback Sam Darnold and new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury are now carrying the burden of proving the Seahawks can keep rolling.
Darnold already answered plenty of questions last season. He did not turn the ball over in the postseason, played efficiently and helped lead Seattle to a dominant Super Bowl LX victory. Still, the criticism has come back around, with the moving target now being whether he can do it again under Fleury after winning a Super Bowl with Klint Kubiak.
The numbers from 2024 should have quieted that noise. Darnold threw for 8,367 yards, 60 touchdowns and completed 66.9% of his passes while going 28-6 across his time with the Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings. He produced across two different systems and two different coaching staffs, and he kept knocking down the old arguments about whether he could be a franchise quarterback or win in the playoffs.
Now the bar has shifted again. Darnold is being asked to prove he can do it with Fleury, who has never called plays before. And because the quarterback is under the microscope, the same is true for the first-time offensive coordinator.
The strange part, at least from Seattle’s point of view, is that the same level of skepticism is not being aimed at the Rams. They moved on from Mike LaFleur to Nathan Scheelhaase, whose only job was at Iowa State in 2023, when that offense ranked 72nd in the nation in points per game.
On the field, Seattle’s offense is expected to look familiar. The Seahawks are set to run a system similar to the one they used last season under Kubiak, though with more run-zone concepts and more unique tight sets. That could make the unit even more balanced than it was a year ago.
There is also a chance for the passing game to open up further. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the league’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year at wide receiver, is back, and Rashid Rasheed has had a full offseason of work.
Seattle’s offense finished third in scoring last season, but it didn’t start out looking like a juggernaut. The Seahawks opened Week 1 with a 17-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and it took time for the attack to hit its stride under Kubiak. A similar climb could be coming this season.
For now, Fleury has already earned praise from head coach Mike Macdonald for the way he has taken control of the offense. And if Darnold delivers again, the Seahawks won’t need to win the offseason. They’ll just need to beat the Rams on the field again.
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Seahawks Open Camp With A Surprise Mike Macdonald Hadn't Seen Yet
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It also marked the first time in Macdonalds tenure that the Seahawks got through the opening stretch of camp without anyone failing the conditioning test. Rookie Deven Eastern did land on the PUP list, but with no rookies on NFI and the veterans all cleared, Seattle at least starts camp with a healthier-looking depth chart than it has had at this stage before. [Read more 🡒]