Seattle Seahawks

With a couple of recent departures in their front office, the Seahawks are making a pair of promotions.

Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Seattle is promoting Willie Schneider and Matt Berry to assistant General Manager.

Schneider — General Manager John Schneider’s nephew — was previously the Seahawks’ director of pro personnel. He is heading into his 14th season with the Seahawks, having previously served in roles like assistant director of pro personnel and a pro personnel scout.

Berry is entering his 20th season with the Seahawks. He was promoted to his previous role of vice president/player acquisition in Feb. 2025. He was previously the senior director of player personnel and director of college scouting.

Berry interviewed for the Titans’ G.M. vacancy last year.

Seattle is backfilling the roles of Nolan Teasley and Trent Kirchner, who left Seattle to become Minnesota’s G.M. and assistant G.M., respectively.

Linebacker Jared Verse has a new NFL team. But he’s still rooting for his old NFL team. Especially when his old NFL team faces one specific foe.

Via Cameron DaSilva of USA Today, Verse recently told Nathan Zegura of ClevelandBrowns.com that his final message to the Rams focused on their biggest current rival.

“I told them, ‘The most important thing, make sure’ — and I’m not going to cuss — ‘make sure you beat the Seahawks. That’s all I care about,’” Verse said.

Last year, the Seahawks and Rams were the best two teams in the NFL. The division, the top seed, and the Super Bowl berth turned in large part on a fluky two-point play that was fueled in part by Verse deflecting with his helmet a throw that turned out to be a backward pass.

Verse had asked coach Sean McVay for the opportunity to inform the other Rams players about the trade. McVay agreed.

“My mindset was, ‘I’ve got to leave my teammates, I’ve got to leave my brothers behind, because I don’t want to leave my brothers,’” Verse told Zegura. “So if I’m going to — I want to address them. I don’t want them to find out from ESPN or from this news site or that news site. I want them to hear it from me.

“Went to the team room. Coach, he released it, he told everybody that, ‘We’re trading Jared,’ and I got to tell everybody. I said, ‘It sucks I’m not going to be here. I love you guys to death. You guys are going to go out there, you guys are going to dominate, you guys are going to do everything you can do and you guys are going to play the best you can. You guys got 17 games for sure. Who knows what’s going to happen after that but just go dominate.’”

It would be something (and highly unlikely) if the Browns have a dominant season, too. Of all the potential storybook endings to 2026, the Browns against the Rams in the Super Bowl would be among the very best.

One of the two teams is far more likely to be there than the other. Especially if they heed Verse’s call to beat the Seahawks.

The Titans are taking a look at a veteran defensive player.

Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu worked out for Tennessee on Tuesday.

Melifonwu, 27, previously worked out for the Seahawks earlier this month.

Melifonwu spent last season with the Dolphins after playing out his rookie contract with the Lions. He appeared in1 6 games with eight starts for Miami, recording 53 total tackles, an interception, and a sack.

A third-round pick in 2021, Melifonwu has appeared in a total of 53 games with 22 starts. He’s recorded 5.5 career sacks along with 14 passes defensed, and three interceptions.

Kyle Juszczyk says the 49ers don’t need to win the offseason.

Juszczyk knows the Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions and the Rams are the talk of the NFL offseason, and if that means the 49ers are getting overlooked in the NFC West, Juszczyk said he’ll gladly accept that.

“We feel great about where our team is,” Juszczyk told NFL Media. “The fact that we won 13 games last season with all that we had to deal with, I think that’s easy to forget. And rightfully so. The Seahawks won a Super Bowl, the Rams had a great season, they had some great additions in the offseason, so I can understand why that is the case. But I think we feel great about where we’re at. I love our squad. I think that we have only improved. Guys are getting healthy. We added Mike Evans and Osa [Odighizuwa] on defense, which I think both of those guys are going to make such an impact. I think we’re sitting in a good spot. If people want to forget about us, that’s fantastic. That’s a good place to be sometimes.”

The 49ers have a strong team heading into 2026, but in the NFC West odds they’re +305 long shots, well behind the favored Rams (+100) and the defending champion Seahawks (+205). The 49ers will need to surprise some people to win the division. Juszczyk likes the sound of that.

In the never ending modern news cycle, the things that don’t happen often don’t get noticed. Case in point — the Seahawks haven’t, and apparently won’t be, visiting the White House in recognition of their win in Super Bowl LX.

There has been no announcement, by the team or by the White House. But with the offseason program over and the players scattered until training camp opens, the natural window has closed on the team from Seattle, Washington to go to Washington, D.C..

In the days after the Super Bowl, a question emerged as to whether the Seahawks would go. At the time, the team said nothing had been offered or decided. At the Scouting Combine, coach Mike Macdonald said that the team has yet to get an invitation and that, if one comes, they’ll address it.

“We’re going to get an invite, right?” Macdonald said at the time. “That’s how it works? Not really sure how it works.”

Since then, there has been no indication that an invitation was extended, or that it was rejected. The non-war war in Iran likely was a factor, but the White House has generally continued to take care of its usual public business (including a visit by the NCAA football champions, the Indiana Hoosiers).

When the Seahawks won the Super Bowl to cap the 2013 season, they visited the White House on May 21.

It’s possible that, this time around, backchannel discussions regarding, for instance, the number of players who would attend the event, resulted in no invitation being extended. It’s also possible that the White House wanted to avoid the indignity of having an invitation rejected (or sparsely attended) and the Seahawks didn’t want to be the subject of a 3:00 a.m. social-media barrage, which also would have included a longwinded complaint about the kickoff formation.

But there’s still time. The Seahawks play the Commanders at FedEx Field on Sunday, September 27. So they’ll be in the area. Whether they’ll want to take a look in the rearview mirror after playing two games in the 2026 regular season remains to be seen.

If they get invited. And if they accept.

The new Patrick Mahomes contract covers eight seasons and averages, from signing, a payout of $63.093 million per year. That pushes the market to unprecedented heights. And it brings into focus the next wave of quarterback deals.

So let’s take a look at the quarterbacks who’ll use the Mahomes contract as a key data point for ongoing or upcoming negotiations.

Lamar Jackson, Ravens.

Jackson has wanted a new deal for more than a year. His current contract averaged $52.5 million per year from signing. At the time it was finalized, he was the highest paid player in the league. He has now slid down to the bottom of the top 10. Mahomes getting to $63.09 million, especially while still recovering from a torn ACL, will only strengthen Lamar’s resolve.

Jackson currently has $104 million remaining on his current contract, over the next two years. With a no-tag clause, he can kick the can through the next two seasons and become an unrestricted free agent. It gives him significant leverage, and Mahomes’s contract likely nudges Lamar’s reasonable expectations from at least $60.1 million per year (based on Dak Prescott’s latest deal) to at least $63.1 million annually.

Joe Burrow, Bengals.

In 2023, after his first three NFL seasons, Burrow agreed to a seven-year deal with an average from signing of $44.28 million per year and a new-money average of $55 million. He has four years left with a total payout of $163.539 million, an average of $40.88 million.

His recent restructuring was a cap-creation device, with no new money. The Bengals, who are extremely careful with money, may not be inclined to tear up the current deal and replace it with a new contract.

For his part, Burrow may not be inclined to extend his commitment to the team. His discontent after three straight non-playoff seasons has become more obvious. As he enters his seventh season in Cincinnati, Burrow could be thinking about reaching the same conclusion Carson Palmer did after his eighth.

Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers.

He has said talks on a deal that would extend his $33.3 million per year contract are nowhere close to where he thought they’d be. The Buccaneers could tag him in 2027, or they could let him hit the open market.

Some think the Bucs wouldn’t use the franchise tag; with a 2026 cap number of $39.975 million, Mayfield’s 2027 franchise tender would be at least $47.97 million. There’s a sense in some circles that the Bucs believe they’ll ultimately offer him more than anyone would in free agency, if a new deal isn’t done before Mayfield’s self-imposed deadline of the start of training camp.

C.J. Stroud.

The Texans repeatedly have proclaimed that he’s their guy. But they have yet to do for him what they’d done for cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and defensive end Will Anderson — sign the first-round pick to a new deal before his fourth season.

The challenge at this point comes from putting a number on his second contract. There’s a broad range when it comes to veteran quarterback pay. Where would Stroud fit?

Currently, the number would be lower than it could be for Stroud, if he has a strong fourth season. Since the Texans realize that, at this point, they’d be only bidding against themselves, there’s no reason to rush the process.

Caleb Williams, Bears.

The first overall pick in the 2024 draft becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. And Williams has been very focused on the business realities of the NFL, from even before he was drafted.

When the time comes for Williams to get a new deal, the Mahomes number will drive the discussion. Especially if Williams continues to be on a trajectory that could put him among the top four or five quarterbacks in football.

We’ve already heard talk of Williams having expectations that would be more than eye-popping. And we also expect that Williams will make it known that he wants his contract not after the 2026 postseason ends, but promptly upon the opening of the window for a new deal after the Bears face the Vikings in Week 18.

Why carry the injury risk into the 2026 postseason? No quarterback on his rookie deal has tried to do that, even though the CBA wrinkle has been hiding in plain sight since 2011.

Jayden Daniels, Commanders.

Like Williams, Daniels becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. His main goal should be to reestablish himself after a disappointing and injury-plagued second season, during which he played only seven of 17 games.

If Daniels returns to his rookie form, he’ll be joining Williams as a quarterback looking for a second contract.

Drake Maye, Patriots.

The player who finished second in the MVP voting to cap his second season also has his window open after the 2026 regular season. And the Patriots will be hoping that, like Tom Brady before him, Maye will be less inclined to break the bank and more inclined to ensure that there will be cap space to have a quality team around him.

Brady, who entered the league as the 199th overall pick, had naturally lower expectations early in his career. Maye, the third overall pick who was denied the commensurate reward due to the rookie wage scale, may not be as charitable as Brady was.

Bo Nix, Broncos.

Nix’s window likewise opens after the 2026 regular season. He’ll need to show he has fully recovered from the foot injury suffered late in the AFC playoff win over the Bills. And he’ll need to do even more in Sean Payton’s offense to unlock a major deal.

Regardless, there’s a new high bar — and his contemporaries from the 2024 draft could add more data points.

That raises another question, as to Williams, Daniels, Maye, and Nix. Who goes first? There will be a competition among the agents to emerge with the best deal. This could prompt some of them to wait until the others jump in the pool first.

Sam Darnold, Seahawks.

Darnold’s three-year, $100.5 million contract from 2025 was structured to give the Seahawks an escape hatch after one year. It wasn’t structured to force the team back to the table if Darnold leads the team to a Super Bowl win.

With $27.5 million in base pay and up to $5 million in available incentives, Darnold would be justified to seek a new deal. The Seahawks may want to wait until 2027.

Regardless, Mahomes’s new contract will be a factor, whenever it’s time to sit down and work out a new contract.

The reality of “voluntary” offseason workouts in the NFL is that they’re only voluntary for the established players. The majority of the players on the 90-man offseason roster are just trying to impress the team enough to make the 53-man regular-season roster, and they attend all the offseason workouts because they know they’re going to get cut if they don’t do everything in their power to make a good impression.

But when those veteran, established players with guaranteed contracts who know they won’t get cut choose to participate in voluntary offseason work, that can be a good sign for the culture the team is building. And that’s what Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams says is happening in Seattle’s offseason program.

Williams said that there’s no sign of complacency on the defending Super Bowl champions, and the players who have already proven they belong are the ones showing the young guys what hard work in the offseason is all about.

“I feel like it’s been great,” Williams said, via ESPN. “It’s been great attendance from the leaders, from the older guys. Young guys have been working hard, trying to be sponges of the game and learn as much as possible. To me, I really just see our culture elevate to another level. I feel like last year we started putting the mix together, all the ingredients and all that type of stuff. This year, you really see it boiling and becoming more just of a foundation. To me, the culture is the biggest thing that we need here. Guys are going to come and go . . . I feel like if we have a culture and foundation like that, we’ll always be a winning team.”

That’s the kind of commitment needed in Seattle, where Williams has said there’s a little extra motivation for the defending champions, knowing the division rival Rams are considered the favorites this season. The Seahawks are eager to put in the work it takes to repeat.

The Seahawks got their latest Super Bowl rings on Thursday night. By the time the next season starts, the franchise should have a new owner in place.

A source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that a new owner is expected to be in place by September.

If that happens, the next owner will formally debut as the Seahawks host the Patriots to begin the 2026 season, on Wednesday, September 9. There’s currently no clarity as to who it will be.

The basic reality of the situation is that the team will go to the highest bidder. It’s required by the terms of the late Paul Allen’s estate. Also, the owners who will be called upon to approve the sale have a strong interest in having the price tag come in as high as possible.

Each sale becomes the floor for the next. The greater the value of one team, the greater the value of all teams.

But that approach comes with a very real risk, for the franchise and for its fans. There’s no guarantee that the person who makes the biggest offer will be the best owner.

No NFL owner is required to know anything about football. Or, more accurately, to know what they don’t know and to rely on others who do.

Folks who have made their fortunes in other businesses often believe the skills are transferable to running a football team. There’s a temptation to meddle.

From the owner’s perspective, it’s not really meddling. The team belongs to the owner. The owner can do whatever the owner wants.

The last team that was sold — the Commanders in 2023 — was broken. Josh Harris and his partners had plenty of work to do to undo the damage of the Daniel Snyder years.

The Seahawks are anything but broken. They have one of the best overall operations in all of the NFL.

Still, that doesn’t mean the new owner will sit back and trust the in-house experts. It’s impossible to even begin to predict what the new owner will do until the identity of the new owner is known. Even then, how the new owner will run the team won’t become obvious until the new owner gets the keys to the car and takes it out for a spin.

Hopefully for the Seahawks, the new owner will take a look around Lumen Field on the night they hang their second banner and see the proverbial light. It ain’t broke. Don’t try to fix it.

That will likely be easier said than done. Paying $10 billion or more for the team will give the new owner the right to make any and all changes the new owner sees fit.

Time will tell whether the new owner opts to stick with the status quo, or whether the new owner will believe their presence and active involvement will only make things better.

Ownership matters. Bad teams stay bad because of bad owners. Good teams stay good because of good owners.

The Seahawks have been a good team for most of this century because they had a good owner. Currently, every Seahawks fan should hope that the person who shows up with the biggest bag of cash will be a good owner, too.

On Thursday night, the Seahawks got their Super Bowl rings. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III wasn’t there to get his.

In a post-draft appearance on #PFTPM, Walker said he intended to attend the ring ceremony. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, he’s the only member of the 2025 Seahawks who did not attend.

It’s unclear why Walker didn’t make the trip. The most obvious explanation is that the Chiefs’ mandatory minicamp concluded on Thursday. And his current priority is his new employer.

As it should be. Yes, it would be nice if the MVP of the Super Bowl had been present to receive the piece of jewelry commemorating the achievement. But Walker has moved on. As he said during the #PFTPM interview, he knew during the 2025 season that his future didn’t include playing for the Seahawks.

It was time to turn the page. To focus on the task at hand. Which consists of pursuing his second ring, while also helping quarterback Patrick Mahomes get his fourth.

The Seahawks wrapped up their offseason program by taking some time for one more celebration of their Super Bowl LX win.

After their final minicamp practice on Thursday, the team handed out Super Bowl rings at an event on Thursday night. Defensive lineman Leonard Williams shared his excitement about receiving the ring ahead of the ceremony.

“I was talking about how last night felt like Christmas Eve for me,” Williams said, via the team’s website. “It was hard for me to go to sleep. It was hard for me to stay asleep. I was waking up at, like 3 or 5 a.m. just excited for today. I’m excited for my teammates and it’s just going to feel like a reunion and, kind of make us relive that moment of grinding all last season and this is our reward.”

With the rings in hand, the Seahawks can fully turn the page to trying for another title in 2026. Head coach Mike Macdonald has been stressing the need to “run it forward” rather than run it back, so he’ll likely be pleased to hear guard Grey Zabel’s plans for the bauble. Zabel said he will “probably wear it tonight, then throw it in the safe and move on to next year and go try and get that second one.”