Fowler: Shaheed set for big-time role

The Seahawks shut Horton down after trading for WR Rashid Shaheed last year, citing a new shin injury. The trade came as a surprise. He and Shaheed possess similar skill sets, and Horton had already set two franchise records, so replacing him in the lineup due to poor play did not add up. Apparently, Horton played through discomfort in his shin for five games until the pain led to imaging, revealing a crack in his shin. Horton attempted to avoid surgery, but it was ultimately deemed necessary in February 2026, delaying his return. Bell adds that the coaching staff is “excited and curious to unleash” Horton and Shaheed in the same formations, “challenging the deep coverage of defenses.” Stressing the defense vertically should open up the short-to-intermediate areas of the field as well. Shaheed will likely be the more reliable boom-bust FLEX and could even ascend to WR3 status, but it is nice to know that the coaching staff still views Horton positively after the surprising in-season trade last year.

Per Fowler, Seahawks tight ends are “going to be moving all around” the formation this season. Whether Darnold targets TEs AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo more often remains to be seen, but we can take this as a net positive for the offense overall. Shifts and motion give the defense an extra item to monitor. Motion added 0.25 yards per play to the NFL average last year. The 49ers averaged the fourth-highest shifts and motion rate (74.3 percent) in the 2025 regular season, while Fleury served as their run game coordinator and tight ends coach. The Seahawks’ 67.4 percent rate ranked 12th. Fleury will call plays offensively for the first time in his career, and former OC Klint Kubiak will not be easy to replace. This is an encouraging report for the Seahawks’ fantasy-scoring prospects, though.

Good. Many of us expected Shaheed to hit the ground running after the Seahawks traded for him last season, reuniting him with former OC Klint Kubiak. He posted an 18/266/0 receiving line from Weeks 10 through Super Bowl LX, yet the Seahawks re-signed him to a three-year, $51 million contract this offseason. The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar said he believes Shaheed’s deal “suggests a demotion” for WR Cooper Kupp. Shaheed possesses big-play ability. Putting him in the WR2 role is logical. It will be interesting to see how the team splits up reps between the two of them in training camp.

It’s a Super Bowl rematch for the two teams, who will get the new league year started on Wednesday, September 9th on NBC, the preferred broadcasting network for football watchers. Sam Darnold and the Seahawks will look to get the season started on a strong note against the Patriots and Drake Maye, who looked wildly out-matched the last time these two teams met. It’s one of two games the Seahawks will play on NBC this season, as they will also take on the Chiefs in Week 7 on Sunday Night Football.

The Seahawks will reportedly begin their title defense at home with a rematch against the Patriots. Seattle won the Super Bowl matchup handily, cruising to a 29-13 victory to hoist the Lombardi trophy. The teams will look mostly the same, with some key differences. The Pats won’t have 2025 leading wide receiver Stefon Diggs, while Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker left the Seahawks for the Chiefs. Still, the NFL is starting strong with an immediate Super Bowl rematch.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report the deal. The 2025 NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl Champion will sign the richest contract extension for a receiver in NFL history, which includes $120 million in guaranteed money. JSN is coming off back-to-back 100-catch seasons and went for 119-1,793-10 last season while averaging a career-high 15.1 YPR, and came up big in the playoffs, scoring twice in three playoff games on the way to a Super Bowl title. This extension comes just days after the Seahawks exercised JSN’s fifth-year option and will now keep him under contract through 2031.

Per ESPN’s Brady Henderson, Smith-Njigba’s 2027 salary is fully guaranteed and should make him roughly $23.85 million. Evidently, the 24-year-old wide receiver hit a pay scale escalator with his “one initial-ballot Pro Bowl,” boosting the value of his fifth-year option. Overall, Smith-Njigba has earned one first-team All-Pro spot and made two Pro Bowls through his three NFL seasons. He led the league with 1,793 receiving yards last year. Henderson previously suggested that the fifth-year option could be used to buy both sides more time as they work toward a potential record-setting, long-term extension.

Kupp’s 2026 cap hit is $17.4 million, fourth-highest on the team behind Sam Darnold, Leonard Williams and Uchenna Nwosu. The Seahawks can’t clear much of it via a release, but they could trade him and save roughly $9.4 million if they found a taker. That sounds like a lot to ask. With a full season to implement Shaheed into the offense, we may just see Kupp become WR5 background noise for fantasy purposes.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the deal includes $34.7 million guaranteed. It’s vaguely surprising after the Seahawks struggled to unlock Shaheed on offense following his mid-season trade acquisition, but he remained a lethal weapon on special teams and there is frankly almost no way he struggles as much as a pass catcher again. Shaheed’s field-stretching perfectly complements Jaxon Smith-Njigiba’s all-around game, and JSN’s dominance means there will be ways to free up Shaheed 1-on-1. We suppose he is on the outside looking in of WR3 status for the time being, but Shaheed’s second year in Seattle could go much better than the first in fantasy.

Boyd predicts (but doesn’t report) that Pierce will leave in free agency, and projects a quick pivot that would include Michael Pittman staying with the team and the Colts chasing another receiver to replace Pierce outside. Shaheed does fit the need for speed even if he doesn’t exactly have the contested-catch ability that Pierce leads with. Shaheed has already been linked to the Commanders, Bills, and Raiders this offseason — though the Bills have since traded for DJ Moore.