The Seahawks and Rashid Shaheed have agreed to terms on a three-year, $51 million contract to keep the wide receiver and game-breaking returner in Seattle.

Shaheed, who turns 28 just before the start of the 2026 season, was No. 32 on The Athletic’s list of the Top 150 free agents and seventh among receivers.

The Seahawks entered the offseason with the sixth-most salary-cap space, according to Over the Cap. Shaheed’s 2026 cap hit will depend on the structure of the deal.

Seattle acquired Shaheed from the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 4 in exchange for fourth- and fifth-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. In 12 games with the Seahawks, including the playoffs, he caught 18 of 36 targets for 266 yards and added 86 rushing yards on 11 attempts with four first downs. He averaged 1.03 yards per route; the average in the regular season among receivers to run at least 250 routes was 1.57, according to TruMedia.

General manager John Schneider spent weeks negotiating with the Saints in hopes of pairing Shaheed’s speed with fifth-round rookie Tory Horton, who had 13 catches for 161 yards and five touchdowns in eight games. Horton suffered a season-ending injury against the Washington Commanders on Nov. 2 (Horton had offseason surgery, coach Mike Macdonald said). Horton’s injury, which also put Seattle in the market for a new punt returner, turned the Shaheed trade from a luxury to a necessity.

“When we made that trade with New Orleans, we were expecting the two of them to be our take-the-top-off receivers,” Schneider said on Feb. 24 at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Unfortunately, (Horton) had a shin issue that just kept lingering, lingering, lingering. We had to place him on (injured reserve), but we were hoping to get him back at some point; we just weren’t able to pull the trigger.”

Shaheed was among the best return specialists in the league upon arriving in Seattle. He was voted to the Pro Bowl as a specialist and received All-Pro votes as a kick and punt returner. As a Seahawk, Shaheed averaged 32.5 yards on 18 kickoff returns with two touchdowns, including one on the opening kickoff in the divisional-round win over the San Francisco 49ers. As Seattle’s punt returner, he averaged 15.1 yards per return with one touchdown, which sparked Seattle’s fourth-quarter comeback against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16.

“The Rams game, I still pull that thing up on YouTube just to watch it,” Schneider said. “It was pretty special. He ran right by us like 140 miles an hour.”

This is the third consecutive offseason in which the Seahawks have re-signed a player they acquired ahead of the trade deadline. In October 2023, Seattle sent a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the New York Giants for defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who then signed a three-year, $64.5 million contract in the spring. In October 2024, Seattle traded a 2025 fourth-round pick and linebacker Jerome Baker to the Tennessee Titans for linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who then signed a three-year, $28.5 million deal after the season.

How he fits

The Seahawks need speed in their offense. Trading DK Metcalf last year created a void that they attempted to fill by signing Marquez Valdes-Scantling in free agency and using a 2025 fifth-round draft pick on Horton, who proved to be a quality WR3 before his injury. Shaheed adequately filled that void and even gave Seattle a much-needed boost as a return specialist. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going to command a lot of attention from defenses in 2026, so Seattle needs someone like Shaheed to keep safeties honest.

2026 roster impact

The Seahawks are returning their top three receivers from last year and should get Horton back as well. The top of their receiver depth chart is set. Horton’s average annual salary is a hair more than Cooper Kupp’s $15 million-per-year deal, and Smith-Njigba could become very expensive soon if he signs the market-setting extension he feels he deserves.

Cap impact

Shaheed’s contract comes with a signing bonus of $20 million, which is prorated over the three-year deal. Along with his guaranteed Year 1 salary of $3 million, he is fully guaranteed $23 million, with a cap hit of $9.7 million in 2026 (of note: Kupp’s 2026 cap hit is $17.4 million). That figure will rise to $19.2 million in 2027 and $22.2 million in 2028. The Seahawks still have more than $35 million in cap space after the re-signings of Shaheed and Jobe.

Michael-Shawn Dugar’s takeaway

Assuming Smith-Njigba signs an extension this offseason, Seattle will have an unusually large investment in the receiver position (even though Smith-Njigba’s new money wouldn’t hit the books until 2027). But Shaheed’s explosiveness was probably viewed as too valuable to let go, especially after the Seahawks lost Ken Walker III in free agency. Walker and Shaheed were the team’s two most explosive players. Keeping at least one of them had to be a priority.