Seahawks Clips
Russell Wilson is staying in New York. But he won’t be playing for the Jets.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN, Wilson is “finalizing a deal” to become an analyst with CBS.
Wilson will be joining The NFL Today, which currently features James Brown, Nate Burleson, and Bill Cowher. A seat opened when Matt Ryan left to become the Falcons’ president of football.
The Jets were considering Wilson as a veteran backup to Geno Smith, who once was Wilson’s backup in Seattle. Wilson has said he had an offer from the Jets.
It’s rare for any quarterback who was once the highest-paid player in the league to happily accept the second spot on a depth chart. (Joe Flacco is the one of the most significant exceptions.) Wilson was the Giants’ starter when he signed there in 2025, and he was the Steelers’ starter when he signed there in 2024. His days as a starter are and were over.
As to the biggest TV opportunities, those seats don’t always pop open. With Ryan exiting, there was a current opportunity for Wilson. If he didn’t take it now, it may not have been there in a year.
Wilson, a third-round pick out of Wisconsin, started for the Seahawks from 2012 through 2021. He was traded to the Broncos in 2022.
A Super Bowl winner and a 10-time Pro Bowler, Wilson was never a first-team All-Pro or a serious MVP candidate. At 16th on the all-time passing yardage list and 12th on the all-time passing touchdown list, he’ll have a somewhat challenging case to get to Canton.
That’s where a great career in TV can make a difference. Yes, the debate will be about his playing career. And, yes, his case will get stronger if he becomes a successful and enduring presence in NFL broadcast universe.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is going to like defensive tackle Byron Murphy’s approach to the 2026 season.
Macdonald said recently that he wants the Seahawks to “run it forward” rather than think about repeating the things they did on their way to winning the Super Bowl in February. Murphy is on board with that mindset and he said that he believes the Seahawks will need to “start back from the bottom to work our way up back to the top.”
“I feel like we gotta start from scratch,” Murphy said, via the teams website. “I feel like we should ask ourselves, what are the things we can improve on as far as what we did last year? How can we build on that? How can [we] just keep going and fix little errors, the little mistakes that we had last year. How can [we] go about that and perfect that and then take it to another level.”
Murphy acknowledged that it is “very challenging” to pull off what he hopes to see the team do this season and they’ll be starting the process against the same team they beat in the Super Bowl when they host the Patriots on September 9.
They have to install playing surfaces that meet exacting standards. They have to change the names of the facilities. They have to shut down all other business (such as major concerts) for the duration of the World Cup.
Given the hoops through which the 11 NFL stadiums will have to jump in order to placate FIFA, it’s fair to ask whether it’s worth it.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe recently took a look at that question. Said an NFL official from a team that won’t be hosting any of the World Cup games, “I know more than a few teams weren’t disappointed to lose the bid.”
That could be sour grapes, because those who won the right to host the matches are crowing about it.
“Can’t sleep,” Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones said recently, per Volin. “This is a great chance to associate with the worldwide love with soccer, and lets us put a little notch on our belt and share it with what soccer’s about, too. They’ll never be able to take away that we held those games in that stadium.”
Cowboys executive Stephen Jones echoed the sentiment: “We’ll be shut down all summer. But it’s worth it. I mean, this is about brand and, you know, being a part of something special.”
The Joneses wanted to host the matches badly enough to give up their suite for the matches.
“I think I’ve got to go someplace else, but that was a part of it,” Jerry Jones said. “We did a lot of things to make this work.”
The Cowboys, Patriots, Falcons, Texans, Chargers/Rams, Giants/Jets, Chiefs, Seahawks, 49ers, Dolphins, and Eagles will be hosting World Cup games in their stadiums.
The total revenue is projected, per Volin, to be roughly $11 billion. FIFA will pay rent for the stadiums, while keeping the revenue from sponsorships, tickets, suites, merchandise, concessions, and parking.
So how much will the teams get for hosting the World Cup? Per Volin, the terms “have been kept under wraps.”
Given that folks like Jones are not known for doing bad deals, they’ll surely be making more money to host the World Cup matches than they would have made in a normal summer.
Still, it’s a headache. Extra work, extra expenses, extra hassles.
Not to mention the P.R. bruise that comes from the perception/reality that NFL owners who are giving FIFA the surfaces it demands while stubbornly refusing to do the same for pro football players.
The hiring of Seahawks assistant G.M. Nolan Teasley as the Vikings’ new G.M. will carry a specific benefit for his former team.
Per the league, Teasley qualifies as a diverse candidate under the NFL provision that gives the former team of a newly-hired G.M. or head coach a pair of third-round compensatory draft picks.
The only question is whether Teasley will be Minnesota’s “primary football executive.” That requirement prevented the Bears from receiving the compensatory draft picks when assistant General Manager Ian Cunningham was hired to be the Falcons G.M. The league decided that president of football Matt Ryan is the “primary football executive” in Atlanta.
The Bears appealed the decision to the league, and Bears fans continue to be mystified by the outcome — especially since Ryan has made it clear that Cunningham is a General Manager “in every facet of the word.”
Minnesota has no similar position to Ryan’s job with the Falcons. The only alternative to Teasley would be coach Kevin O’Connell. But there has been no indication that, moving forward, O’Connell will emerge as the top football executive for the Vikings, with full control over the roster and the draft.
The NFL’s full collection of diversity of initiatives have recently come under attack by Florida’s attorney general. The Seahawks getting two extra third-round draft picks undoubtedly will spark a reaction from those who, in the current climate, attack efforts aimed at enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Another first-round pick has agreed to their first NFL contract.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Seahawks have agreed to terms with running back Jadarian Price. Price was the 32nd and final pick of the first round in Pittsburgh last month.
Nineteen of those 32 first-round picks are now under contract.
Price was also the second Notre Dame running back to be selected by an NFC West team in the first round. Jeremiyah Love went to Arizona with the fourth overall pick. Price had 280 carries for 1,692 yards and 21 touchdowns over three seasons with the Fighting Irish.
The Seahawks have Zach Charbonnet coming off of a torn ACL with Price, Emanuel Wilson, George Holani, Kenny McIntosh, Velus Jones, and Jacardia Wright making up the rest of the backfield.
Seahawks edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence did not attend the start of the team’s voluntary offseason workouts until this week. He is participating in the organized team activities.
Lawrence was home in Texas after his wife gave birth to a daughter, Syenna, the day after Super Bowl LX.
“Shout out to the fans that are concerned about me, just let them know D-Law is doing well,” Lawrence said, via John Boyle of the team website. “I’m currently working back in Texas right now. I’ve got the newborn and a 1-year-old, so I can’t leave mom with all those responsibilities. She knows I’ll be back here for the season, and the coaching staff knows my game plan. We’re still working. I’m just not able to be here on a day-to-day basis.”
Lawrence got his first Super Bowl in his first season in Seattle after 11 seasons in Dallas. He also earned his fifth Pro Bowl nod, so the 34-year-old didn’t need much time to decide on playing a 13th season.
“Being able to reach the top and understanding that my body still has more to give, I still have more to give,” Lawrence said. “And also, I had the most fun I’ve ever had playing football last year. So just taking all of that into consideration, knowing what I’d be leaving behind, the chances [of retirement] were very slim.”
Lawrence is entering the second season of the three-year, $42 million contract he signed in the 2025 offseason.
Seahawks edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence is on the practice field for today’s voluntary Organized Team Activities.
Lawrence had not been attending previously, but Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said Lawrence would be there at some point, and today he is.
The Seahawks posted video of Lawrence in uniform, walking out the doors of the team’s facility and jogging onto the practice field.
The 34-year-old Lawrence is heading into his second season with the Seahawks after previously playing 11 seasons with the Cowboys. He’s on Year 2 of a three-year, $42 million contract.
The market for the Seahawks was “soft.” Until it wasn’t.
Less than three weeks after Seth Wickersham of ESPN used the “S” word regarding the interest in the only NFL team currently for sale, Ian Rapoport on NFL Network (which makes him now an employee of ESPN) reported during a prime-time edition of Pat McAfee’s show that the market is suddenly “robust.”
Rapoport, who was careful to try to harmonize his reporting with the recent intel from a new colleague, added that the owners could have a special meeting in August to vote on the new owner.
The number, per Rapoport, “could eclipse $10 billion.”
The expected range, as PFT reported in February, was $9 billion to $11 billion. The number could land in the middle of the low and high end of the scale.
So what changed? It could be that the folks who are truly intent on trying to buy the team watched and waited to see how aggressive the competition would be. At the end of the day, the highest bidder will get the team.
Rapoport named no names as to a potential buyer.
The current employees of the the defending NFL champions and their fans should hope and pray that the new owner, whoever it may be, won’t try to fix what currently isn’t broken. That may be easier said than done. The owner of a team can do whatever he or she wants with it. It will be theirs with which to do whatever they choose.
But, in almost all sales of sports teams, it’s not about finding the best steward for the asset. It’s about getting top dollar for it. In this case, that’s what the late Paul Allen’s trust requires.
The 2026 season will begin just as the 2025 postseason ended, with the Patriots taking on the Seahawks.
In theory, that could be bad news for quarterback Drake Maye, who was effectively running for his life on the field in Santa Clara throughout Super Bowl LX.
While this matchup will have considerably lower stakes for the two teams, Maye and the Patriots would certainly like to reverse the result in Week 1.
“I think it’s a chance for us to get some extra motivation during training camp, starting off with a bang like that — a chance to get an opponent that left a bad taste in our mouth,” Maye said in his Wednesday press conference. “So I think for us, it’s going to really make us work. We’ve got to bring it Week 1 — on the road in a tough environment. They’re going to be hanging their banner, and that’s a part of it.
“So, it’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be a tough task. It’ll be something for us to gain some extra motivation, and make training camp better.”
Maye noted that he “definitely” watched the Super Bowl loss, largely to learn from it and see what specifically he could improve.
“For me, on the biggest stage, a big game, I had a lot of plays I wish I had back,” Maye said. “And at such a young point in my career where I can still learn so much, first time playing that defense. So, you can learn things and learn about the game. So I think there’s definitely some parts that you maybe throw [away], that I maybe skip, or know that, no, I don’t want to watch that again. But definitely the game, I think you learn so much from mistakes you make yourself.”
Maye, who finished second in AP MVP voting last season, finished Super Bowl LX 27-of-43 for 295 yards with two touchdowns, two interceptions, and a lost fumble. During the regular season, Maye completed 72.0 percent of his throws for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and eight picks.
The Jets and Seahawks have reportedly agreed to a trade.
Zack Rosenblatt of TheAthletic.com reports that the Jets will send wide receiver Irv Charles to Seattle. The Seahawks will send a conditional 2028 seventh-round pick back to the Jets.
Charles signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and spent the season on the practice squad. He appeared in 25 games over the next two seasons and saw almost all of his playing time on special teams. Charles has 14 tackles and he was targeted with two passes without recording a reception.
Charles tore his ACL late in the 2024 season and did not play at all last year. He’ll try to make the 53-man roster and resume his playing career in Seattle.
