The Seahawks head into camp with a roster that has a little bit of everything: young talent ready to pop, established veterans who helped drive last season’s run, and a few older names who still have work to do if they want to keep their roles secure.
That’s the reality for plenty of teams, but Seattle’s mix stands out. The draft brought in players who could see the field right away, and the veteran core remains a big part of why the Seahawks were so successful last season. Leonard Williams, Ernest Jones Jr., Demarcus Lawrence, and even Jason Myers all delivered key moments during Seattle’s Super Bowl run.
Still, experience doesn’t buy anyone a permanent pass. Some veterans are entering camp with pressure on them because of the depth chart, the length of their deals, or the simple fact that they have to show they’re still worth the investment. For Seattle, that includes a backup quarterback, a newly extended receiver, and a pass rusher on a one-year deal.
Drew Lock is first on that list. His days of being viewed as a potential NFL starter are behind him, but Seattle valued him enough to bring him back last season after moving on from him three years earlier.
He’s expected to back up Sam Darnold again, though Jalen Milroe could change that if he makes a strong enough push. Lock is trying to hold off the younger quarterback and keep himself in Seattle for at least another year.
A strong camp would go a long way toward keeping him in the high-end backup lane instead of sliding into a No. 3 role somewhere else.
Dante Fowler Jr. is in a different kind of fight. The edge rusher isn’t being asked to become Demarcus Lawrence 2.0, but Seattle is hoping he can provide some of the same kind of value Lawrence brought after the team took a chance on him last offseason.
Fowler, drafted in 2015, has had a career that hasn’t matched the expectations that once followed him, but he’s still been productive and useful as a rotational linebacker. On a one-year deal, this is a prove-it season.
A strong year could set him up for a bigger contract next summer, and maybe one last shot at a multi-year deal.
Then there’s Rashid Shaheed, who arrived in the midseason trade that John Schneider pulled off last year. In the big picture, Shaheed mattered a lot to Seattle’s Super Bowl run.
In the smaller picture, he didn’t do much as a wide receiver. Even so, the Seahawks rewarded him with a three-year deal this summer.
That contract comes with a clear expectation: Shaheed has to be a difference-maker as a returner and a very good receiver. He doesn’t need to be elite on offense, but he does need to be very good. Seattle plans to feature his speed more this season, and if he starts stacking plays - especially the kind that hit downfield - he’ll make the extension look justified.
In Other News...
Former Seahawks Starter Suddenly Resurfaces After Devastating Injury
Ethan Pocics football path has taken another turn, and it brings a familiar name back into the conversation for the Seahawks. The former Seattle second-round pick, once a starter in the middle of the line, has worked his way back from an Achilles tear and is healthy enough to get back into training camp, a notable development for a veteran center trying to reestablish himself after a lost season.
Baltimore needed help at the position after Tyler Linderbaum left in free agency, and the depth chart behind him is thin enough to make any proven option look appealing. Pocics return gives the Ravens a player with starting experience and a chance to stabilize a spot that has been unsettled, while Seattle will at least keep an eye on how that situation develops given its own questions along the interior line. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Fans May Not Like How The DK Metcalf Trade Is Aging
Sixteen months after Seattle sent DK Metcalf to Pittsburgh, the deal looks a lot different than it did on draft night. Metcalf has been productive enough with the Steelers, but not in a way that has clearly shifted the balance of the trade, while the Seahawks have already turned the draft capital they got back into a meaningful piece on defense. For a team that needed the move to work on both the roster and the cap sheet, that kind of early return is hard to ignore.
The ripple effect in Seattle went beyond one player, too. Moving Metcalf helped open the door for Jaxon Smith-Njigba to take on a much larger role, and the Seahawks have been able to build around that change while also adding a defender who has quickly become part of the conversation on that side of the ball. For Pittsburgh, the question now is less about whether Metcalf can help and more about whether the Steelers got enough back to make the price feel right. [Read more 🡒]
One Seahawks Veteran Is Suddenly In A Real Camp Fight
Seattles defense still looks loaded on paper, with a front that has been built around Pro Bowl and All-Pro talent and a steady stream of additions from John Schneiders front office. Even after losing four key players in free agency, the Seahawks have kept the group deep by supplementing the roster through the 2026 draft and by bringing in veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr., a move that was supposed to help stabilize the rotation.
Now the real intrigue is in the back end of the edge-rush depth chart, where a handful of young undrafted free agents have turned the fourth spot into a legitimate camp battle. The Seahawks have made it clear that draft status will not protect anyone, and that kind of approach has opened the door for a group of hungry newcomers to push for a job that once looked like a straightforward veteran hold. [Read more 🡒]