Seahawks Clips
The Super Bowl champions have made an addition to their coaching staff.
Jimmie Dougherty will join the Seahawks as an offensive assistant, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Last year Dougherty was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Washington. It was announced in February that he would not be returning to the Huskies.
The 47-year-old Dougherty played college football at Missouri and has been a coach ever since his playing career ended, always at the college level. In addition to two stints at Washington, he has coached at Illinois Wesleyan, San Diego, San Jose State, Michigan, UCLA and Arizona.
Two years ago, the NFL seized on a quirk in the calendar that allowed the league to televise a Friday night game, Friday Night Lights be damned. With Friday a Week 1 option only when it’s the first Friday in September, the league can’t do it in 2026, when Week 1 coincides with the second full weekend of the month.
Enter Wednesday-Thursday.
The NFL has announced that, this year, the Seahawks will host the opening game on Wednesday, September 9, with the 49ers and the Rams playing on Thursday, September 10 in Australia.
That’s likely the new formula, for the years when Thursday-Friday doesn’t work because of the league’s broadcast antitrust exemption.
Wednesday-Thursday will be the likely plan in 2027 and 2028, with the Super Bowl champion hosting the Wednesday game and an international contest happening on Thursday. In 2029, Friday will be in play. Ditto for 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033.
Of course, none of that matters if/when the league expands to 18 games and two byes. At that point, Week 1 likely would be moved to Labor Day weekend, which the NFL abandoned after 2001.
Here’s the other catch. If the current approach continues, with no NFL football on Labor Day weekend, the league’s effort to find more ways to cram cheese into the pizza would entail not a Thursday-Friday two-pack of games but a Wednesday-Thursday-Friday trifecta.
Seahawks General Manager John Schneider said on Wednesday that he felt the team was “blessed” when wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba fell to them with the 20th overall pick in 2023 and the feeling hasn’t changed over the three years.
Smith-Njigba broke out with 100 catches in his second season and won the offensive player of the year award in 2025 after posting 119 catches for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. The icing on the cake came in the postseason when Smith-Njigba played a starring role for the Super Bowl champs and the Seahawks made it clear that they see a lot more of the same to come this month.
A four-year, $168.6 million contract extension came together this month and head coach Mike Macdonald said at a press conference that it solidifies the wideout as a player they will be building the franchise around for years to come.
“One of the great things that paints a great picture about what Jax means to us being a foundational piece of our football team and our organization is we’ve got a full house here,” Macdonald said, via the team’s website. “This is pretty awesome. We’ve got dang near the whole Seattle Seahawks organization supporting Jax on this day. I just want to emphasize how excited we are. He’s going to be here and he’s a foundational piece, he’s a cornerstone of our team. Just being able to see his growth over the two years that we’ve been here. I mean, the sky’s the limit. This is the beginning. This is another iteration of our football team, and Jax is obviously going to be a huge part of it and where we want to go and where we want to take our team, and I know it’s early in his career, but he’s already a leader on our team and will be for a long time. So we’re really excited.”
The Seahawks also selected cornerback Devon Witherspoon in the first round in 2023 and getting a deal done with him would give the Seahawks another pillar as they try to maintain the level they reached during the 2025 season.
Najee Harris visited the Seahawks on Wednesday and the running back has another visit lined up with a prospective employer for the 2026 season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Harris has a visit planned with the Raiders as well.
The Raiders have 2025 first-round pick Ashton Jeanty at the top of the backfield depth chart. Dylan Laube and Chris Collier are the only other backs currently on the roster in Las Vegas.
Harris is recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered while playing for the Chargers last September. The 2021 first-round pick spent his first four seasons with the Steelers and ran for 4,312 yards during his time in Pittsburgh.
The Seahawks have met with a potential addition to their backfield.
The NFL’s daily transaction report shows that they reported a visit with running back Najee Harris. Harris is coming off of a torn Achilles that ended his 2025 season with the Chargers in Week Three.
Harris recently shared a video of him sprinting on a treadmill to update where things stand in his return to health. Harris also suffered an eye injury in a fireworks accident last summer, but returned to play in the first three games of the season. He ran 15 times for 61 yards and caught three passes for 25 yards.
Harris had four straight seasons with at least 1,000 rushing yards with the Steelers to open his career.
Kenneth Walker left the Seahawks for the Chiefs as a free agent this month and Zach Charbonnet is recovering from a torn ACL. The newly signed Emanuel Wilson joins Cam Akers, George Holani, Kenny McIntosh, and Jacardia Wright on the running back depth chart.
The Seahawks traded DK Metcalf in the 2025 offseason to make Jaxon Smith-Njigba their No. 1 wide receiver. The move turned out beautifully for them and for Smith-Njigba.
The Seahawks won the Super Bowl as Smith-Njigba became an All-Pro, the Offensive Player of the Year and a Seahawks record-holder.
On Wednesday, he officially became the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver.
Smith-Njigba signed his four-year, $168.6 million extension, which will keep him under contract through 2031.
“It’s an honor; it’s a blessing,” Smith-Njigba told John Boyle of the team website. “I feel like I was definitely drafted to Seattle for a reason. It’s become home, and it’s just a blessing to come back and be a part of a great staff, a great team, great coaches and a great community. So, I couldn’t ask for more from a city and an organization.”
He set franchise records with 119 catches for 1,793 yards and added 10 touchdowns in 2025.
“Man, it’s been a blur,” Smith-Njigba said of the past year. “Just a celebration. What a great year. I’m just thankful I could stay healthy and see all this through. It’s truly a blessing, and it takes so many people that are part of my journey that I’m so thankful for. Just to be able to celebrate all of these cool achievements with them, it’s a blessing.”
The NFL has officially announced the date and time for the first game of the 2026 season.
The Seahawks will be hosting the opener on Wednesday, September 9. The game will get underway at 8:20 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBC and Peacock.
Seattle will be hosting the game a day earlier than usual because of the NFL’s first-ever game in Australia. The Rams and 49ers will be playing in Melbourne on Thursday night in order to give them more time to return to the United States for Week 2.
It is the first time that the NFL has opened a season on a Wednesday night since 2012. The Giants-Cowboys game took place that night to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The Seahawks’ opponent has not been revealed yet. That will be announced along with the rest of the schedule later in the offseason.
The Cowboys are signing cornerback Derion Kendrick to a one-year deal, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.
Kendrick, 25, spent time with the Rams and Seahawks last season, playing a total of 15 games. He totaled 10 tackles, two interceptions and five passes defensed while seeing action on 135 defensive snaps and 112 on special teams.
The Rams made Kendrick a sixth-round pick in 2022.
He missed all of the 2024 season with a torn ACL, but in four seasons, Kendrick has appeared in 47 games with 18 starts. He has recorded 102 tackles, three interceptions and 19 passes defensed.
Kendrick has not started a game since 2023.
The Seahawks are bringing back one of their defensive backs.
They announced that cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles re-signed with the team on Tuesday. The team did not share the length or financial terms of the new pact.
Jean-Charles signed with the Seahawks last year, but did not make the team out of camp and spent the entire season on the practice squad.
Prior to joining Seattle, Jean-Charles played nine games for the Saints in 2024. He also made three appearances for New Orleans and five appearances with the 49ers in 2023 after opening his career with 20 games for the Packers in his first two seasons.
Jean-Charles has 29 tackles and an interception over his entire career.
The player most immediately impacted by the new Jaxon Smith-Njigba contract is Cowboys receiver George Pickens, who has seen the bar for his next deal move to at least $42.15 million per year — even though he’s boxed in by the $27.298 million franchise tag. Another player’s immediate financial future has been affected by the JSN contract.
Like Smith-Njigba, Rams receiver Puka Nacua has had three great NFL seasons. And Nacua has more catches (313 vs. 282), more yards (4,191 vs. 3,551), and more total touchdowns (21 vs. 20).
Both were unanimous All-Pro selections in 2025. Smith-Njigba won the offensive player of the year award. Nacua finished third.
Like JSN, Puka is eligible for a new deal. Unlike Smith-Njigba, Puka is entering the last year of his rookie contract.
Nacua is due to make $5.7 million in 2026, a number that has been increased over the slotted amount based on his performance to date. But that’s a far cry from the new market value.
A four-year contract with a $43 million new-money APY becomes a five-year, $177.7 million deal. It’s a $35.54 million per year value from signing.
On Monday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network suggested that the Rams will wait to do Nacua’s deal until “further into the summer.”
Regardless of the time, Nacua shouldn’t set foot on a practice field until he gets his next contract. And the longer the Rams wait, the more expensive it will be. Especially if the Cowboys wake up from their chronic contractual foot dragging and drive the market even higher than it currently is by paying Pickens.
Ultimately, the market is the market. And the market keeps going up. Because the salary cap keeps going up. That’s the way the business works. The cap has exploded from $182.5 million to $301.2 million in only five years. And Nacua has proven his value.
Through three years, the Rams have gotten tremendous value. For those 313 catches, 4,191 receiving yards, and 21 total touchdowns, the Rams have paid $2.93 million — an average of less than $1 million per year.
It’s time to pay the piper. Or the Puka. Or whatever.
It never gets cheaper. That’s why the Seahawks moved when they did. And it’s why the Cowboys and Rams shouldn’t wait. The bar will keep going up. Pickens and Nacua should be the next two receivers to benefit from that simple NFL business reality.
