The Seahawks, if the NFL concocts its schedule in the usual way, will open the 2026 season with a home game on Thursday, September 10. And with both the 49ers and Rams reportedly set to play Week 1 in Melbourne, two viable options to get the short straw in Seattle will be out of the mix.
But there are still plenty of good matchups, given a 2026 home schedule for the Seahawks that is chock full of competitive teams.
Beyond the NFC West rivals, the Seahawks will host the Chiefs, Chargers, Bears, Cowboys, Giants, and Patriots. Every one of those games has appeal.
The Chargers and Giants would introduce the wrinkle of Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald squaring off against one of his former bosses, Jim and John Harbaugh. The Chiefs have the Patrick Mahomes (and maybe Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift) angle. The Cowboys are always a major draw. The Bears will be one of the “hot” teams for 2026.
And while a Super Bowl rematch may not have much sizzle given what happened on Sunday, it would still be a Super Bowl rematch.
Even a game against the Cardinals could be compelling, since they have a new coach and presumably will have a new quarterback. (Seattle and Arizona played an overtime game in Week 4 of the 2025 season.)
It nevertheless remains possible that Whoever vs. Seahawks won’t be the first game of the season. 49ers-Rams may need to be played before the opening Thursday in order to reduce the significant travel/jet-lag burden.
Still, if the existing approach holds, it’ll be Seattle against someone as they hang their latest banner on the first Thursday night of the season. One of the many decisions the NFL will need to make about the 2026 schedule will entail selecting the opponent for what should be a fairly significant game.
Chargers Clips
Another week, another high-level NFL executive has left the building.
NFL V.P. of football development Roman Oben has been named the SEC’s associate commissioner for football.
“Roman Oben brings a rare combination of elite football experience and high-level sports-business leadership, with more than 15 years serving in senior executive and board roles across professional football, collegiate athletics, and global sport development,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a release. “Roman is well-positioned to grow SEC football through campus engagement and innovative operational strategies, and he will play a central role in advancing the SEC’s national influence and long-term success in college football.”
“Joining the SEC is an incredible honor,” Oben said. “The tradition, competition and passion of SEC football are unmatched, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve its coaches, administrators, and student-athletes. I look forward to working with Commissioner Sankey, Charlie Hussey and the outstanding leadership within this conference to strengthen alignment, support institutional priorities, and advance the game with integrity, clarity. and purpose.”
Oben, who played college football at Louisville, spent 12 years as a player in the NFL, from 1996 through 2007. He played for the Giants, Browns, Buccaneers, and Chargers, appearing in 143 regular-season games and starting 130.
Last week, NFL chief administrative football officer Dawn Aponte left the league office to become senior V.P. of football operations with the Giants.
The Chargers are hiring Rutgers outside linebackers coach Julian Campenni as assistant defensive line coach, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
Campenni worked at Rutgers for the past two seasons.
He is a former all-conference defensive lineman and team captain at UConn, where he made 38 career starts.
Campenni was on Scot Loeffler’s staff at Bowling Green for five seasons, coaching the defensive line for three seasons before assuming the title of defensive run game coordinator. He was also assistant head coach in 2023.
Bowling Green had 71 combined sacks in 2022-23, the most ever in a two-year period in program history.
Campenni spent part of the summer in 2022 with the Packers as part of the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.
Three years ago, Chargers safety Nasir Adderley made the surprising decision to retire at the age of 25. Now he says he wants back in the NFL.
Adderley wrote on social media that he would like to play again and is ready to return this offseason.
“It’s now been three years since I left the NFL, and I am extremely happy with my development,” Adderley wrote. “Health, family, and entrepreneurship were my top priorities, and I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish. The freedom to manage my own schedule was very important to me, but what I didn’t realize was how much I’d miss having football in my life. The competition, the brotherhood, and just being involved in the game that means so much to me and my family. Therefore, I am officially announcing my intention to return to the NFL.”
The 28-year-old Adderley was a second-round pick of the Chargers in 2019 and had just finished his rookie contract when he announced his retirement. He is now a free agent and can sign with any team. Adderley was a starter for the Chargers, and a cornerback with the talent to start in the NFL will undoubtedly receive plenty of interest, even if he hasn’t played in three years.
Adam Gase is back in the NFL.
Gase, who hasn’t coached since 2020, has been hired by the Chargers, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Although Gase’s official title has not been revealed, he is expected to be an offensive passing game coach of some kind.
The 47-year-old Gase hasn’t been a coach at any level since he was head coach of the Jets in 2019 and 2020. Before that he was head coach of the Dolphins from 2016 to 2018, and before that he was an offensive coordinator for the Bears and Broncos.
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has shaken up the offensive coaching staff by firing coordinator Greg Roman and hiring Mike McDaniel to replace him. And now the Chargers have added a second former Dolphins head coach to their offensive staff.
The Seahawks won Super Bowl LX less than 24 hours ago and some have already turned their attention to Super Bowl LXI.
Sportsbooks have set the odds for who will be raising the Lombardi Trophy in SoFi Stadium on February 14, 2027. The Seahawks are at the top of the list, but they aren’t the only team on that rung.
They aren’t even the only NFC West team. The Rams join the Seahawks at +950 at DraftKings at the moment.
The Bills have the top odds of any AFC team with the Eagles, Patriots, and Ravens tied for the fourth spot. The Packers, Lions, Chargers, and Chiefs round out the top 10.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Cardinals and Dolphins are both at +25000.
When the 2026 regular season begins on the Thursday night after Labor Day (there’s a chance it’ll start a day or two earlier given the long trip the 49ers and Rams will make to Australia), the Seahawks will be hosting the game and hanging their newest banner.
The options include a potential Super Bowl rematch with the Patriots.
Other candidates are the Chiefs, Chargers, Bears, Cowboys, Giants, and Seattle’s NFC West rivals — the Rams, 49ers, and Cardinals. (Again, the 49ers and Rams could be meeting in Melbourne in Week 1.)
Ten years ago, the Broncos and Panthers had a Week 1 rematch following Super Bowl 50. So it’s not unprecedented.
Still, based on tonight’s outcome, there may not be much appetite for an immediate rematch.
Marcus Brady is following Jesse Minter from the Chargers to the Ravens.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the Ravens are hiring Brady as their passing game coordinator.
Brady, 46, spent the past two seasons with Minter as the Chargers’ passing game coordinator. The Chargers interviewed him for the offensive coordinator job that went to Mike McDaniel.
Brady has worked with Philip Rivers, Jalen Hurts and Justin Herbert, among others, in his career. He now gets to work with Lamar Jackson under new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.
Brady spent five seasons with the Colts (2018-22) and was elevated to offensive coordinator in his final two seasons in Indianapolis. The Colts fired him during the 2022 season, and he joined the Eagles as an offensive consultant (2022) and then as a senior offensive assistant (2023) before joining the Chargers.
Brady coached in the Canadian Football League from 2009-17. He was part of three Grey Cup championship teams, winning back-to-back titles as a wide receivers coach with the Montreal Alouettes (2009-10) and another with the Toronto Argonauts (2017) as their offensive coordinator.
The Chargers could hire Adam Gase in an offensive assistant coach role, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports.
Gase has not coached since 2020 when he was in his final season as head coach of the Jets. He spent two seasons as the Jets’ head coach after three seasons (2016-18) as the Dolphins’ head coach.
Gase is 32-48 as a head coach.
He was an assistant coach for the Lions (2005-07), 49ers (2008), Broncos (2009-14) and Bears (2015).
Gase was the offensive coordinator of the Broncos for two seasons there and in the same role for the Bears in his one season there.
The Associated Press informed the 50 voters for the various NFL awards that, after the announcement of the winners, the ballots would be disclosed. The AP ultimately chose not to do it.
We asked the AP about the decision to refrain from revealing the ballots.
“We’ve given out the AP NFL Awards for many years, and sometimes we try new approaches,” AP director of media and corporate communications Patrick Maks said via email to PFT. “For example, last year for the first time we released individual voter ballots. This year for the first time we worked with a third party to tabulate votes. As ever, there are no restrictions on voters revealing their individual ballots after the awards are announced, if they choose to do so.”
Last year, the ballots were disclosed even though the voters were not informed in advance that it would happen.
The AP also did not release the full tabulation of points for the awards, opting to list the top five and, where applicable, any others who received first-place votes.
For 2025, the MVP vote was the closest it had been since Peyton Manning and Steve McNair shared the award in 2023. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford finished with 24 first-place votes and 366 points. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye secured 23 first-place votes and 361 points.
A first-place vote counts as 10 points, a second-place vote is worth five, a third-place vote equates to three points, a fourth-place vote is worth two points, and a fifth-place vote counts for one.
Two first-place votes went to Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who finished third. One first-place vote went to Chargers quarterback Justin Hebert, who did not finish in the top five.
Sam Monson disclosed (possibly while under the impression that all votes would be revealed by the AP) that he gave Herbert the first-place vote.
Without full disclosure of all ballots, it’s impossible to pinpoint the specific decision(s) that may have swung the final MVP outcome away from Maye and toward Stafford.
Regardless, transparency is good. Last year, the AP applied full transparency. This year, the AP did not. Next year, who knows?
