Biggest draft need? Talented football players

Does Seahawks free agency have any impact on Seahawks draft?

If you want to be in on the next Super Joes Q&A to share your Seahawks-related thoughts and questions, hit this button now:

IdahoFred: Just wondering, have the Seahawks been more active in the early free agency period than in past years? It just seems like between signing their own free agents and the few new ones that there has been more activity than in past years. Especially with all the extra posts about the signings.

From my perspective, the Seahawks haven’t actually been “active” in free agency since Pete Carroll’s first couple of offseasons when Seattle was attempting to start from scratch by signing guys like Sidney Rice, Zach Miller, and Robert Gallery. Schneider only went out of pocket last year with Sam Darnold because the team had that rare need of an immediate starter at quarterback and Darnold fell into their laps because of Klint Kubiak and Minnesota’s odd decision to part ways.

Had it not been for that, Seattle may have held onto Geno Smith.

Keeping some of their own guys like Rashid Shaheed and Josh Jobe after free agency begins is not unusual, as the Seahawks did this a couple of years ago with Leonard Williams and even in 2022 they had Geno hanging out there for almost a month before they brought him back to compete with Drew Lock for the job.

I haven’t looked at any empirical data, but I know that the only way that last week would have been weird for the Seahawks would have been if they had signed Trey Hendrickson or any of the big names. The times when they’ve strayed away from that sort of plan, like giving Cary Williams a three-year deal out of the gate in 2015, it hasn’t really worked out.

Going a little bit out of the way to secure Noah Igbinoghene (who I mentioned last month) or Rodney Thomas or Emanuel Wilson isn’t unusual. Seems like normal offseason business for the Seahawks this year.

Chip Mac: This year the JS and MM tea leaves are a little easier to read. The Hawks will hold onto the twelve 2027 draft picks, take a CB early in the draft and look for veteran K9 replacement on a 1 year prove it deal. If I’m reading the tea correctly then what are the most likely number 2 and 3 draft pricks?

Under this exact premise and forced to pick positions instead of prospects, I would presume that edge rusher is top of mind for John Schneider. Based on Chip Mac’s scenario with a cornerback being the first pick, edge hits the hardest (as noted in last week’s roster check-in) and then it’s kind of a free-for-all because you could make all kinds of positional arguments including another running back.

I don’t think Wilson, George Holani, and Zach Charbonnet on an unknown return timeline necessarily does anything to quell doubts about Seattle’s backfield situation.

But aside from your perfectly reasonable tea leaves, Chip, I’d just say that good teams have to pick players, not positions. Actually, Scott M’s question slots perfectly into what I am going to say next.

Scott M: I think we're all reading into the fact we lost 4 pieces and we have 4 picks so just fill those spots, right? What do you think about trying to replace the next 4 out the door instead of the 4 that already left? IE...Lawrence, Reed, Kupp, Myers, and maybe Williams look like the next group to eventually 'age out'...should we focus more on replacing them?

0-percent of my body, mind, and soul thinks the Seahawks are going to draft a CB, EDGE, RB, and S. Aside from the improbability of the exact right players available at Seattle’s picks playing those positions, it’s just nowhere in Schneider’s history as GM to draft for need.

I apologize for not having the exact quote at hand, but he’s said in the past that he doesn’t “draft for need” until the sixth round.

The Seahawks have an extraordinary belief in their coaches, but also in their scouting department and the work that’s been done to acquire and develop players who nobody thinks are going to become good, players like Jared Ivey and George Holani and Maxen Hook and Bryce Cabeldue, etc.

And when I say “nobody thinks are going to become good” I mean that in the way that Ty Okada and Drake Thomas and Jalen Sundell weren’t supposed to be good. Even if 9-of-10 undrafted free agents/late picks won’t be good, Seattle’s just looking for maybe one or two guys to step up next season. That’s all. I 100-percent believe that the team is looking to an Igbinoghene or a Rodney Thomas or an Emanuel Wilson to prove people wrong more so than they believe their draft picks will fill their “needs”.

I’m going to end up repeating that mantra a bunch of times this year, a bunch of times the next year, and a bunch of times in 2028. Because it’s been this way already for 15 years. And that’s okay to repeat it because it’s important:

Seattle’s draft needs have very little to do with the present day roster.

Who is leaving in 2027? Who gets expensive in 2028? And most importantly, who is just going to be a damn good football player regardless of position? The biggest NEED is talent.

If the Seahawks get to picks 32 or 64 or 96 and everyone agrees that there’s a too-good-to-be-true tackle or tight end or linebacker or even a quarterback on the board, well then what’s the point of taking “L.J. Collier” over “Nick Emmanwori” just because he plays a position that doesn’t quite feel set?

It’s at this moment that I wish I knew the actual middle-to-late day 2 prospects better (I recommend Sam Teets substack for that) because then I could give you a much better answer to make my point, but absent any names this year then yeah, I’d say running back makes sense. There have to be some real—and unfortunate—doubts about Charbonnet’s future.

Do you have any prospects you’re hoping get to Seattle’s picks?

Danno: Can we find quality players to fill the four we lost?

Danno is essentially asking where the snaps go for Coby Bryant, Tariq Woolen, Kenneth Walker, and Boye Mafe:

Bryant is the only one of these players who played a lot relative to his teammates. He had the most snaps on defense at 977. But Okada had six games where he played every snap and 10 games with at least 89% of the snaps. Between Okada, Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori, and newly-added Rodney Thomas II, Seattle’s safety position should be OK. The Seahawks felt good enough about D’Anthony Bell and A.J. Finley to re-sign them too.

Seattle also added Maxen Hook, a 2025 UDFA, last December. When you’re getting so much out of Okada, you can’t help but then wonder about other undrafted free agents.

I don’t really see another big addition at safety coming, but if it did it could happen after final cuts in September. Safeties are always floating around the free agent market.

Walker was just 24th in the league in rushing attempts per game. The Seahawks could feel strongly about Holani and Wilson and call it a day. The position is less of a priority than the guys blocking up front and the ones catching passes from Sam Darnold.

Woolen had definitely fallen behind Josh Jobe in the second half of the season and the playoffs. The question “How do you replace Woolen?” is really no different to me than “How do you replace Michael Jackson?” which Seattle handled perfectly well a couple of years ago and were better for it. Actually Jackson was probably more valuable than Woolen. I can’t wait for the Seahawks defense to get better by subtraction. Igbinoghene is another name added to the mix there.

Mafe is in a similar position as he was basically just a 33% player in December. The Seahawks do not have as obvious of a fourth edge rusher as they do a plan at cornerback (if Emmanwori is the nickel then Jobe and Devon Witherspoon are the outside guys) but between Jared Ivey and Connor O’Toole Seattle at least has two players who they kept on the roster throughout 2025.

I don’t see the Seahawks as losing any of these players. I think Seattle has in fact been anxious to give their depth a chance to win some of these spots and prove if they’re better. Of course the draft could end up delivering an immediate starter or two as we see just about every year, even in the fifth round like Woolen in 2022, so that’s just a “TBD” that we can’t answer yet. Nobody can sit here today and predict which roles will be filled by rookies.

Rusty: So did you get any Super Bowl memorabilia to commemorate the victory? Is Clark rocking a SB victory sweater?

It’s already over 90 degrees where we live so not sweater weather, but Clark does have a Seahawks jersey. Not Super Bowl commemorative, however.

I’ll put this one to the Seasiders because I bet we have some great answers out there:

Seaside Joe 2568