Aaron Donald dangled a carrot in front of the Rams for months, teasing at a potential return for 2026 after L.A. traded for Myles Garrett, but as the days got closer to Week 1 it really started to seem like the fans of that franchise would get the short end of the stick. To AD’s credit, his elusive, statement-less workouts were not a ruse or half-hearted, and Donald officially returned to the NFL this week on a revised $30 million contract with the Rams.
Although Donald could play in Week 1 against the 49ers, it’s possible that without a single day of official practice and two years off from football (plus a two-week commissioner’s exemption to be on the team but not the 53-man roster), that he doesn’t debut until Week 3. No matter for Seahawks fans:
Seattle had their two highly-anticipated games against the Rams used as Week 16, Week 18 bread for a Panthers sandwich. The Seahawks wouldn’t see Donald until Christmas, at the soonest.
If you want to check out the newsletter that I sent to Super Joes asking for questions—you can read it here—and if you want to receive the next one, then upgrade to Super Joes today for a prorated rate compared to Regular Joes:
IdahoFred: How much of a difference do you think Aaron Donald can make?
That’s the question. Donald always gave the Seahawks immense problems, so I would never underestimate him. Donald has always been super intense about working out and training to be the best, which is how a player does make an argument to be on the NFL’s “best all-time defense” roster, which I think he’d deserve at defensive tackle.
I’m skeptical in the sense that everybody gets “too old” eventually. I’m cognizant of the possibility that Donald could be an All-Pro because that’s what they said about Tom Brady for about a decade prior to his retirement.
I would want to know what Seahawks OL coach John Benton has to say about it. He was the 49ers OL coach from 2017-2020, so Benton has plenty of experience game planning an offensive line against Donald. That’s the good news.
The bad news? Donald had 10.5 sacks in those 10 games.
Seth: Probably a redundant question but what is your positive spin on Hawks VS Rams (other than Rams have no depth)? I also know you like the Lions in the NFC but who do you see coming out of the AFC and who might be a real surprise?
I objectively don’t believe the Seahawks need a “positive spin” to compare themselves to the Rams. I think as of Week 1, the Seahawks have a distinct and clear advantage on special teams, a better all-around defense that has three years of continuity under Macdonald (as opposed to the acclimation period L.A. is going through with so many changes), and the reigning player of the year on offense.
Plus, Darnold is a competent quarterback at worst, with the best case scenario of being a top-five quarterback.
That’s as of Week 1. The Seahawks don’t face the Rams until Week 16. It’s way too far away to compare.
I do think the Detroit Lions have an oft-overlooked scheduling advantage and a clearer path to the 14 or 15 wins that it will take to earn the number one seed in the NFC. But I don’t think Jared Goff is as good of a quarterback as Darnold (or a top-15 quarterback) and obviously that comes with disadvantages. Plus, the Lions are sort of a wild card on defense and are more capable of collapsing than the Seahawks or Rams.
As for the AFC, I feel a bit like Chris Berman: Picking the Bills at the start of every year, believing that eventually one of those years I’ll be right.
What do you think?
Danno: I’m not sure where I saw it, but I seem to remember you saying something like it looks like JS had his worse draft class since 2021(?) or something like that. Forgive me if I got it wrong, but I couldn’t find it when I went looking for it.
In a past career, I interviewed the comedian Bill Burr and he said “When I tell a joke, it’s no longer mine when it hits your ears. Then it becomes whatever you interpret it as, whether I intended that meaning or not.”
I never said that John Schneider had his worst draft class since 2021. It’s not even the first week of their first season, how could anyone know that? I pointed out that with half of the class likely to be cut (which it was) and one player on IR, one player injured, and one player set to be a backup this season, that Jadarian Price was the only rookie from the class who would have a clear role going into Week 1.
Which would be reminiscent of 2021, when the Seahawks only drafted three players.
I’ve only ever commented on the facts. An unfortunate season-ending injury, and ailments that have prevented Julian Neal from consistently practicing have unfortunately impacted the immediate impact of the class. I’ve never criticized the 2026 draft class.
It’s a bit like reporting that the Seahawks lost a game, and then someone saying “Seaside Joe called the Seahawks losers”. So I’m glad you asked me, so that I could make it clear I’ve not criticized the draft class and I’m a believer in Seattle’s system to pick the right players for Macdonald and develop them.
Rusty: What has you the most excited for the upcoming season (other than the Hawks are the defending SB champs)?
Can I say watching the rookies?
Adding Avery Smith at the cut deadline was an interesting turn of events.
The Seahawks feel like a team, both players and coaches, that wasn’t even fully formed when they won the Super Bowl. So many unanswered questions of what might happen after these players entered year two:
WR Rashid Shaheed
QB Sam Darnold (with a new OC)
TE Elijah Arroyo
DE Rylie Mills
S Ty Okada and LB Drake Thomas
DB Nick Emmanwori
G Grey Zabel
Even Derick Hall still piques one’s curiosity going into his fourth season and if he might still evolve into an elite pass rusher. He’s only 25.
Shaheed and Mills really just had their first offseason with Seattle. Okada and Thomas had their first offseason as starters. Zabel and Emmanwori could experience an immense development leap in year two.
To see what any and all of these players could do as defending champions who have gained a bit more confidence in their abilities sort of feels like watching a brand new team, even though the Seahawks are largely comprised of the same names that won the Super Bowl.
And then there’s Darnold, and the first time that the Seahawks specifically hired an offensive coordinator tailored to build an offense for Sam Darnold. So much so that Brian Fleury and Darnold were both on the 49ers in 2023.
Darnold could be as good as he was last season, or he could be worse. Or he could be a legitimate MVP candidate on an unbeatable team.
So there’s a lot to look forward to because despite being the best team last season, I don’t think Seattle has peaked yet.
Grant: Cutting D'Anthony Bell seems like an admission by the team that there is no replacing Nick Emmanwori (no surprise I guess). Bell was fine for training camp, but we're not going to do that in games that matter. If Emmanwori can't play week one, how different is the defense? Who gets the extra snaps? Tyrice Knight? More Spoon at nickel CB?
It’s certainly an admission that there’s no replacing Emmanwori with Bell. The Seahawks like D’’Anthony Bell, but they’ve made it abundantly clear that they don’t love him. He’s a borderline NFL player and maybe practice reports went overboard in emphasizing the degree to which Bell was replacing Emmanwori’s spot while he was out—which we see in camp reports every year.
The Seahawks didn’t struggle too badly when Emmanwori missed a month last year, and now Mike Macdonald has had a year to think about how he’d do it differently and what he’d repeat. If Nehemiah Pritchett’s “breakout” is real, maybe Macdonald is comfortable inserting him into the lineup in Week 1 and making adjustments from there.
Luckily, Seattle has so many good players in the secondary and the defense as a whole that I’m not especially worried about a temporary absence by any one player.
Most excited to see our trenches get even better given O-line continuity and a big pash rush year!
The list of players who you mentioned are all second or third year players to watch and who we all expect to up their game a little or a lot is what gets me excited about this team. There were a lot of players on that list. And some we might not expect to elevate their games. Except, our competition may be tougher, too. Oh, well, such is life.