PHOENIX — The Seattle Seahawks are the reigning Super Bowl champions. Head coach Mike Macdonald, always meticulous with his messaging, doesn’t want his team operating in 2026 as if they need to defend what they did in 2025.
“We try to be careful with our language,” Macdonald said Monday morning at the NFL’s annual league meetings at the Arizona Biltmore hotel. “We’re not really saying we’re running anything back. We’re not defending anything. That’s just not really our attitude. Our goal is to retain as many great players as we can. We love our roster, we love our guys and (we’re) trying to keep that unit together and have that continuity. That’s what we’ve been trying to do.
“That’s part of the long-term plan as well and how we budget; I’m not really in those conversations on budgeting for multiple years in and out, but I know that’s how we’ve done business, and I feel we’ve executed pretty well for the most part.”
Macdonald was asked about “running it back” in the context of returning most of the players who helped the Seahawks win a championship. The entire starting offensive line is coming back, along with all the tight ends, receivers and quarterbacks. Ken Walker III is the only starter they lost on offense.
The Seahawks had 17 players who were on the field for at least 300 snaps on defense, including the playoffs. They lost three of those players: safety Coby Bryant (team-high 1,106 snaps), cornerback Riq Woolen (917 snaps) and outside linebacker Boye Mafe (592 snaps).
Macdonald said the players he has talked to have been “awesome” about how they plan to frame their mission for the upcoming season. “They know what we need to do,” Macdonald said. Once they officially begin their offseason program, Macdonald said they’ll work together to “figure out ways for guys to make it their journey again so we can all be on the same page.”
General manager John Schneider spoke with reporters Monday afternoon. He’s in alignment with Macdonald on the approach to the season.
“Every year it’s so different,” Schneider said. “We’re trying to bring as many guys back as we possibly can, but you know it’s going to be a different team, no matter what, every year.”
Bryant signed a three-year, $40 million free-agent deal with the Chicago Bears. Mafe signed with the Cincinnati Bengals for $60 million over three years. Walker’s three-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs is worth $43 million. When asked if the Seahawks were “close” to retaining any of them, Schneider said, “That’s not how it works with free agency.”
“You go to the (scouting) combine, you get these general areas of where people are going to be and then you have this negotiating period,” Schneider said. “You have to have cutoffs based on what your planning looks like. All those guys just crushed it. They just did a great job with their play and their agents did a great job (negotiating those deals).”
The Seahawks have $31.1 million in effective space, which takes into account signing the 2026 draft class, according to Over the Cap. They retained many of their players on one- or two-year contracts with a couple of exceptions: receiver Rashid Shaheed (three years, $51 million) and cornerback Josh Jobe (three years, $24 million). Their external free-agent acquisitions — cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, safety Rodney Thomas II and running back Emmanuel Wilson — signed one-year deals.
Woolen signed a one-year, $12 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. A media member from Philadelphia asked Macdonald about “letting Riq Woolen go.”
“We didn’t let him go,” Macdonald said.
Asked what type of player the Eagles are getting in Woolen, Macdonald said: “Getting a great player. We love Riq. He’s a great player. Just can’t afford him.”
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Macdonald said he was under the impression that all of his older veterans would be returning in 2026. He was asked about this in the context of a report that DeMarcus Lawrence, who turns 34 next month, is mulling retirement. Macdonald said Monday he still anticipates all of his veterans to return, Lawrence included.
“To my knowledge, he’s coming back,” Macdonald said. “He always has the right to change his mind, but as of right now, he’s coming back.”
Here are a few other notes from the Schneider and Macdonald news conferences:
Millionaires tax
On Monday, Governor Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 6346 into Washington state law, creating a 9.9 percent tax on income over $1 million in a single year. Known as the “Millionaires Tax,” this law — which is set to take effect in 2028 and could still face legal challenges — would impact most of the Seahawks’ roster. The Seahawks have been among a handful of teams to benefit from a lack of state income tax, along with the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans.
Schneider said not having state income tax “helped us a lot” when acquiring players. While negotiating with a free agent who was weighing Seattle’s offer against one from another club, the Seahawks could point out that the player’s take-home pay would be different in Seattle, even if the contracts were identical in total value.
When Shaheed’s financial adviser informed him of his trade to Seattle in November, the first thing he mentioned was that Washington state didn’t have an income tax. In 2022, Seattle signed outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu to a two-year, $19 million free-agent contract. Nwosu is from California, played at USC and was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers. He said at the time that he chose the Seahawks because they presented the best offer and mentioned taxes as one of the factors.
“California was eating me up in taxes,” Nwosu said.
Players, of course, consider multiple factors when choosing a team in free agency, and a new ownership group could affect how much of an impact the tax has on the Seahawks’ ability to acquire talent. But it is nonetheless notable that Schneider views the tax as a “bummer” from a roster construction standpoint.
Don’t sleep on the RBs
Seattle lost its starting running back of the past four seasons, and his primary backup has a torn ACL. Schneider likened the fretting over the state of their running back situation to worries he heard about the offensive line over the past few offseasons. Schneider’s position on the running back group is the same as his stance on last year’s offensive line at this point: He likes the players they have but will look to add talent.
“There’s guys in there we like,” Schneider said. “Like any position, would you like to add it? Yeah. But (we like) the uniqueness of the group. George Holani, he’s all-around; Kenny (McIntosh), the special teams aspect of his game, the kick returns, catching the ball out of the backfield; Emmanuel Wilson is a heavy runner, zone runner. They all have a cool, unique skill set.
“Zach (Charbonnet), that guy is an ultimate pro. As soon as he can come back, he’s coming back.”
Macdonald feels the same way.
“We don’t play until Wednesday to start the season off, and even then, it’s a long season,” Macdonald said of their current running back situation. “I think people are sleeping on the guys we have a little bit. George Holani played great for us down the stretch. Zach’s a great player; he’s not going to miss the whole year. And then Kenny Mac being able to come back, and then the guys we added.
“I’m excited about how that room goes from here. Obviously, just like the rest of the team, any opportunity to take our team to the next level, we’re going to look at. That’s how John rolls.”
More Bobo
The Seahawks signed receiver Jake Bobo to a two-year, $5.5 million contract after he signed an offer sheet with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Because the Seahawks used the right-of-first-refusal tender on Bobo, who was a restricted free agent, they had the ability to match Jacksonville’s offer.
Schneider said it was a no-brainer decision to match.
“Jake knew we wanted him back the whole time,” Schneider said. “We were just going through a lot with (Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s) negotiation, (and) we were in draft meetings. Once it got to Monday or Tuesday, it was like, ‘We’re matching that.’”
Bobo, who had four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown in 2025, including the playoffs, told the team’s in-house reporter he never wanted to leave Seattle.
“It looked like there was a shot I was going to end up in Jacksonville, but in the back of my mind, I was hoping the guys upstairs would make something happen,” Bobo said, “and they did.”