An early Seattle Seahawks 53-man roster projection for 2025

It’s been a potentially franchise-altering offseason for the Seattle Seahawks.

Two Takes: Should the Seahawks consider trading Kenneth Walker III?

They traded away Geno Smith and DK Metcalf. They replaced them with Sam Darnold and Cooper Kupp, among others. They re-signed a pair of key defensive pieces in Ernest Jones IV and Jarran Reed. They signed four-time Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. And they added a highly intriguing 11-player draft class that’s received overwhelmingly positive reviews.

With the dust now mostly settled, how might it all fit together?

Of course, plenty can change between now and the NFL’s roster cutdown deadline in late August. But with OTAs beginning this week, here’s an early stab at what the Seahawks’ 53-man roster could look like.

Quarterback (3)

• Sam Darnold
• Drew Lock
• Jalen Milroe

This is the most clear-cut position group on offense, at least in terms of who makes the 53-man roster. Darnold is the presumptive starter and will look to build on last year’s breakout campaign with Minnesota. Lock figures to be the backup, given his experience in making 28 career starts – including two with Seattle in 2023.

The big X-factor is Milroe, who enters the NFL as likely a multi-year developmental project. Given his tantalizing skill set as a runner, will the Seahawks use him in specialty packages as a change-of-pace weapon? Could he make enough progress as a passer to surpass Lock as the backup? Those will be fascinating storylines to follow this fall.

Running back (4)

• Kenneth Walker III
• Zach Charbonnet
• Damien Martinez
• Kenny McIntosh

Some have speculated the Seahawks could consider trading Walker, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal. That idea stems from Walker’s injuries issues and decreased production, along with Charbonnet’s late-season surge last fall and a suddenly deep running back room after Seattle drafted a potential seventh-round steal in Martinez.

But for the time being, we’ll assume Walker remains on the Seahawks this fall and gets a chance to showcase his talents in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s scheme, while running behind what should be an improved offensive line. That would likely put Walker and Charbonnet as the top two backs, with the 217-pound Martinez serving as a change-of-pace bruiser with a knack for breaking tackles. Seattle could opt to keep just three running backs, but McIntosh’s kick-return ability ultimately earns him a spot here.

Fullback (1)

• Robbie Ouzts

Under Kubiak, the fullback position will be a legitimate part of Seattle’s offense for the first time since Will Tukuafu manned the position in 2016. This figures to be a two-man battle between Ouzts and third-year pro Brady Russell, who both are in the process of converting from tight end to fullback.

The Seahawks spent a fifth-round pick on Ouzts, so he gets the edge here as a slight favorite to win the competition. It also probably helps that the muscular 6-foot-3, 274-pound Ouzts – who is particularly agile for his size – has an extra 24 pounds on Russell.

Wide receiver (5)

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba
• Cooper Kupp
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling
• Tory Horton
• Jake Bobo

The Seahawks have typically gone with six wide receivers in recent years, but with Kubiak’s system expected to feature a heavy dose of two-receiver sets, they could go with five wideouts to free up a spot elsewhere. Smith-Njigba, Kupp, Valdes-Scantling and Horton figure to be the primary receiving options. Horton also brings major special teams value, having returned three punts for touchdowns during his college career at Colorado State.

That leaves a difficult decision for the final spot between Bobo and seventh-round pick Ricky White III. White’s special-teams prowess – he blocked an astounding four punts last year at UNLV – could be his ticket to a roster spot. But in this case, Bobo gets a slight edge for being a 6-foot-4 target in the red zone and a strong blocker – the latter of which will be an important trait for receivers in Kubiak’s offense.

Tight end (4)

• Noah Fant
• Elijah Arroyo
• AJ Barner
• Eric Saubert

It’s possible the Seahawks could look to trade Fant after they used a second-round pick on Arroyo, who brings a similar skill set as a field-stretching tight end. Fant has underperformed relative to his salary during his three seasons in Seattle, and if the Seahawks were to move him, now would be an ideal time with Fant entering the final year of a two-year deal.

But for the time being, we’ll assume Fant plays out his contract this fall. That would leave Fant, Arroyo and Barner as the clear-cut top three tight ends. Saubert, an eight-year veteran who spent last season with San Francisco, serves as a blocking specialist. Another name to keep an eye on is 6-foot-5, 266-pound undrafted free agent signee Nick Kallerup, who could challenge Saubert for the blocking tight end role.

Offensive line (10)

• LT Charles Cross
• LG Grey Zabel
• C Olu Oluwatimi
• RG Anthony Bradford
• RT Abraham Lucas
• OT Josh Jones
• C Jalen Sundell
• OG Sataoa Laumea
• OG Christian Haynes
• OT Michael Jerrell

Barring injury, three of the five starting O-line spots appear to be locks: Cross at left tackle, Zabel at left guard and Lucas at right tackle. However, the other two starting spots could make for very compelling training camp battles. Center figures to be a two-man competition between Oluwatimi and Sundell, while right guard could potentially be a four-man battle between Bradford, Laumea, Haynes and sixth-round draft pick Bryce Cabeldue.

The Seahawks kept a league-high 11 offensive linemen on their initial 53-man roster last year, but can probably only keep 10 this season due to the roster crunch of having a fullback and a third quarterback. As a result, that could mean one of the potential right guard candidates being cut in order to make room for additional tackle depth. So in this case, Cabeldue is the odd one out. That makes room for Jerrell, who gets the edge over seventh-round rookie tackle Mason Richman for the final spot. Jones serves as a veteran swing tackle.

Defensive line (5)

• Leonard Williams
• Jarran Reed
• Byron Murphy II
• Johnathan Hankins
• Rylie Mills

Williams, Reed and Murphy form a formidable trio up front. Hankins is back as a veteran run-stopping nose tackle, having re-signed with the Seahawks several weeks ago after the team didn’t take a nose tackle in the draft.

The key question here is whether Mills will recover in time for the start of the season after suffering a torn ACL last December. If Mills begins the season on injured reserve, that could open up a spot for 2023 fifth-round pick Mike Morris, who essentially is entering his second NFL season after missing nearly all of his rookie year with a shoulder injury.

Edge rushers (5)

• DeMarcus Lawrence
• Uchenna Nwosu
• Boye Mafe
• Derick Hall
• Jared Ivey

Lawrence, Nwosu, Mafe and Hall give Seattle a talented and established four-man edge-rushing rotation. Ivey, an undrafted free agent out of Ole Miss, also could nab a roster spot as a developmental piece. The 6-foot-6, 274-pound Ivey had seven sacks for Ole Miss last season and was projected as a fifth-round pick by both ESPN’s Matt Miller and NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein.

Linebackers (4)

• Ernest Jones IV
• Tyrice Knight
• Drake Thomas
• Josh Ross

Jones and Knight return as the starting inside linebacking duo, but Seattle’s depth at this position is thin and extremely inexperienced after that. Thomas, a third-year pro with 41 career defensive snaps, is the only other inside linebacker on the roster who has played a defensive snap in the NFL.

For the moment, Ross slots in as the fourth inside linebacker, largely because he recorded more than 300 special teams snaps last season with Baltimore and Seattle. But this is certainly an area the Seahawks could look to bolster with an outside addition.

Safeties (4)

• Julian Love
• Coby Bryant
• Nick Emmanwori
• D’Anthony Bell

Seattle already had a talented safety tandem in Love and Bryant. They’re now joined by the ultra-athletic Emmanwori, who has the positional flexibility to move around as a versatile chess piece in the second level of Mike Macdonald’s defense – whether that’s as a box safety, a “big nickel” defender or some other hybrid role.

The fourth safety spot could have several contenders, including Bell, Jerrick Reed II, AJ Finley and Ty Okada. Bell ultimately gets the nod here as the most experienced option. He logged more than 1,000 special teams snaps for Cleveland over the past three seasons, while also recording a pair of interceptions.

Cornerbacks (5)

• Devon Witherspoon
• Riq Woolen
• Josh Jobe
• Nehemiah Pritchett
• Zy Alexander

Witherspoon and Woolen give Seattle one of the most talented young cornerback duos in the league. After that, Jobe currently slots in as the No. 3 corner, but the Seahawks appear to be interested in adding an established veteran to the room. Seattle has reportedly met with both Rasul Douglas and one-time Seahawks Pro Bowler Shaquill Griffin, who have combined for 28 career interceptions over their combined 16 seasons in the league.

But for the moment, Pritchett slots as the fourth corner after getting his feet wet as a rookie last year. The final spot goes to Alexander, an undrafted free agent out of LSU. He was projected as a fifth-round pick by both ESPN’s Matt Miller and NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein.

Specialists (3)

• K Jason Myers
• P Michael Dickson
• LS Chris Stoll

This group is straightforward. Myers is set for his seventh season as Seattle’s kicker, Dickson is slated for his eighth season as the team’s punter and Stoll is entering his third season as the Seahawks’ long snapper.

An early Seattle Seahawks 53-man roster projection for 2025

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