Shaheed's All That

Rashid Shaheed has the attention of every Seahawks fan: Does he have John Schneider's attention for an extension?

The NFL’s poll of general managers and other executives has yielded a landslide result in Executive of the Year honors: John Schneider.

Tom Pelissero’s survey came away with a clear winner, meaning that it would be a shock if Schneider doesn’t win the award for the first time just two years after he separated his business relationship and roster building reputation from Pete Carroll to become Seattle’s sole bread winner:

It's rare to have a landslide in this category, so Schneider's runaway win with 19.5 votes speaks to how impressed his counterparts have been with the Seahawks' build.

No move this offseason was bolder than Seattle’s QB swap, trading veteran starter Geno Smith to Las Vegas for a third-round pick and replacing him with Sam Darnold, who has been well worth the $37.5 million he’s making this season. But that’s just part of the reboot Schneider has executed since the team parted ways with Pete Carroll in January 2024. He ran the process that led to the hiring of Mike Macdonald, who is 22-10 and still one of the NFL’s youngest head coaches at age 38.

It probably doesn’t hurt that in the same article, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was called the favorite to win Offensive Player of the Year. Macdonald, Nick Emmanwori, Darnold, and Grey Zabel were also mentioned as people who received at least one vote for an award.

Just yesterday, six Seahawks were named to the Pro Bowl (Darnold, JSN, Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, Devon Witherspoon, and Rashid Shaheed) and with alternates that number could get close to the 10 that I projected earlier this month. Schneider has led a charge to build a team that is more talented than any version of the Seahawks in the last 10 years.

The last mentioned of those Pro Bowlers, Shaheed, is a popular topic of conversation over the past week.

Will the team extend him? What will he cost? What is his ceiling as an offensive player?

I address those questions and more in part II of this week’s Super Joes Q&A segment. Read Part I if you didn’t already.

Don Mills: The sense I get when thinking about Aden Durde’s role as the defensive coordinator is similar to the one I had when Eric Bieniemy was Andy Reid’s offensive coordinator. Bieniemy was a vital component however the offense still ran through Andy Reid.

I feel as if MM is putting together the game plans as well as calling the plays on game day and Durde is integral to the player execution of the plan. What is your feeling about Aden Durde’s role as the Hawks defensive coordinator?

It’s difficult for me to compare our senses of Durde’s role because I don’t know if you’ve read things, heard things, or seen things that I haven’t seen and you might be more aware of certain goings on than I am. So any answer that follows this will be under the presumption that both of us are merely going off of what we know about the structure of the coaching staff, which is that Mike Macdonald calls defensive plays and Durde helps him, and not any other stories or quotes that have recently come out.

If you’re going off of more specific details, you’ll have to expand on that in the comments:

I think we as fans tend to overrate this idea of “calling plays” when the question that matters the most is, “Can he coach?”

“Coaching” and “calling plays” are totally different skill sets and coaches are more important than play callers. I would argue that Bill Belichick and Andy Reid and Pete Carroll were all more valuable because of the coaches they hired than literally calling plays or directing play calling objectives themselves. Reid’s value as a play caller has probably been overrated the most just based on the fact that he got paired up with Patrick Mahomes, as Kansas City’s passing offense immediately went from bottom-half of the league to top-5 when the Chiefs made that change at quarterback.

Similarly, I would say that most people were skeptical of Eric Bieniemy because of Mahomes more so than Reid. And even then, I think most people would have accepted Bieniemy’s value as a coordinator/coach if he hadn’t been on over a dozen interviews and never got close to being hired as a head coach at a time when teams were dying to have some of Kansas City’s secret sauce.

Now compare that to Robert Saleh, who spent four years as the 49ers defensive coordinator was immediately snatched up by the Jets in 2021 (in fact, they chose him over Bieniemy) when he started the interview circuit. I think it’s just that difference in meeting a person and sensing that he’s a head coach vs. feeling like that person isn’t ready for the responsibility and Bieniemy’s reputation preceded him on several fronts.

Saleh is a play calling defensive coordinator who worked for an offensive-minded head coach, right? But Bieniemy lost jobs to several coaches who didn’t call plays, including Nick Sirianni being hired by the Eagles in 2021.

“Bieniemy” is sort of a loaded reference that I’m not sure if he’s being mentioned next to Durde because they both worked in non-play calling coordinator roles on successful units or if there’s anything more to your question, so I’m treading lightly. If it’s only the former reason, then we could also compare Durde to roughly a third (or more) of the league’s head coaches.

Here are some current head coaches who didn’t call plays as coordinators (either in total or mostly): Matt LaFleur (under McVay*), Zac Taylor (wasn’t a coordinator at all), Mike McDaniel, Liam Coen (under McVay*), Brian Callahan (was fired), Nick Sirianni, Dan Campbell, and Kevin O’Connell would be some more clear examples. But coaches like Pete Carroll, Mike Vrabel, John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, and Sean Payton either didn’t call plays or move up the ranks because of play calling.

Coen and Dave Canales only called plays for one season on the Buccaneers prior to being head coaches and they both lead their divisions. Does that make them great play callers?

*Had to leave the Rams to get a play calling OC job

They were praised for being coaches. Most, including Reid under Mike Holmgren, were overshadowed by a head coach who took the credit for play calling.

If anything, coaches like Mike Macdonald and Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan are the “freaks”. They’re the unusual hires because teams rarely meet a great player caller who is also a great coach. And I think far more Super Bowls have been won with head coaches who didn’t call plays than great player callers who became head coaches.

(Or for a long time, it just seemed like Super Bowls were won by Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Mahomes, or the Eagles.)

Okay, but can Aden Durde call plays?

Well, who knows? I don’t think it’s out of the question that Macdonald would hand play calling duties to Durde in 2026. Macdonald has spent two years as the head coach/DC, he might have wanted all that time to make sure his system was properly installed and atop the league before handing the keys to the castle over to Durde. It seems like it would have been too soon to give that to Durde while Seattle’s defense was still on the rise.

But if the Seahawks are in maintenance mode next year, it makes sense to me that Macdonald would want to give Durde that opportunity and know that he’s able to assist him during the offseason and season.

However, I also wouldn’t be surprised if teams want to start talking to Durde next month during the interview circuit just to start to get an idea of how he carries himself and if he gives of head coach vibes. Even if they don’t hire him this year (and someone still might) it gets the ball rolling on whether he will have momentum … or lose it … going into future interviews.

I don’t imagine that any of us can speak to Durde’s abilities as a play caller or as a future head coach, but he’s certainly put himself in the running.

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Cavmax: Rylie Mills, I'm so intrigued by him. How was his performance during the game? Unfortunately, our power went out up here in WA. and didn't get to see the game.

Also a lot of attention on Mills all year long. Still not a lot of data. He played six more snaps, made one tackle, doesn’t have any other stats (traditional or analytics) to speak about. Going to be tough for anyone to expound on Mills’ value until he plays a significant number of snaps.

Danno: I have seen people talk about Charles Cross being worth upwards of $30 million a year. I confess, I had hoped that Benton’s coaching would result in Cross being a pro bowl OT, or close to it. From my near-sighted eyes, I have not seen that type of performance improvement from Cross. He looks like a slightly better than average Tackle. I know you’ve addressed this question before, but has anything changed in how you feel about his value?

I know some others who cover the Seahawks have brought this up recently, but here’s the only thing that matters:

Charles Cross is signed next year for a guaranteed $17.5 million.

Unless fans want to trade him, there’s nothing really to address. He’s signed for a very reasonable cap number in 2026 — 14th among all left tackles. Is Cross the 14th-best left tackle? Seems fair. You said it yourself as “slightly better than average”.

The reason the 5th-year option exists is that teams can table the debate until the player has completed five years in the league, so to me Cross is a non-issue until the 2027 offseason. Cross is barely 25, so I’m happy to wait it out and see if he’s noticeably better when he’s barely 26.

Danno: That also has me thinking would they consider trading him if they feel they can’t get him extended. There may be some teams willing to pay for a slightly better than average tackle.

Okay since you did ask about trading him, anything is possible. If the Seahawks feel like there isn’t a significant drop-off with Josh Jones at left tackle for the next couple of games (and there didn’t seem to be one against the Rams) then they might see the offseason as an opportunity to save $17.5 million and get back some draft value by making a deal.

We just saw Laremy Tunsil traded for the second time in his career in 2025. Tackles do get traded just about every offseason.

Jones is a free agent, so does the team re-sign him and draft someone? Perhaps. I can’t really say how good Josh Jones might be since he hasn’t played much in the last few years, it could be that he’s taken very well to Benton’s coaching and just needed an opportunity. That would be great news if so!

Danno: There is one other thing I am wondering about is what will happen to Shaheed. With JSN Shaheed and Horton, we’re solid at WR 1, 2 and 3. Without him, we’re have a gaping hole. If we win the #1 seed, I would love to see him extended in our bye week.

I just happened to address the Rashid Shaheed situation a couple days ago, probably after you asked this question. I think that John Schneider is prioritizing a new contract for Shaheed in the offseason; I don’t necessarily see a need to expedite the process, nor does Seattle tend to do extensions around this time of year.

Leonard Williams re-signed with the Seahawks even after free agency started in 2024. Ernest Jones re-signed just prior to free agency in 2025. I wouldn’t be worried about a deal getting done and I don’t think he will cost that much. It’s actually surprising that he’s managed to have such an impact without scoring an offensive touchdown yet.

I’ll be shocked if the Seahawks don’t address receiver with another move in 2026. Tory Horton, who fell in the draft due to injury concerns, will miss more than 50% of his rookie season with an injury. I don’t think Seattle wants more than 60% of their wide receiver targets to go to JSN next year and so they probably want another reliable player added there.

Bret: Has Shaheed played his way out of town? Or, has he pushed out Cooper Kupp? I’m curious whether you think Shaheed might’ve raised his free agent market high enough to force the Seahawks to bow out.

I don’t think they can, or rather will, let him go with the draft capital invested in the trade, especially where Kupp’s salary is what it is in the context of his minimal productivity. But we have (a fragile) Tory Horton already on the roster on a low-cost contract. What do you think the Hawks will do?

And, in which round do we draft our first interior lineman next year?

It’s difficult to answer right now because if I point out that Shaheed hasn’t done anything as a receiver in five of his seven Seahawks games, the counter-argument to that will be that he only just met most of these players and coaches (and other reasons).

True, none of us really know what Shaheed would do as a Seahawk if he had a full offseason with the team—Shaheed averaged 5 catches per game on the Saints compared to 2 catches per game in Seattle—so if he was an adequate complement to Chris Olave, it stands to reason that he could be an adequate complement to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Can he become a good complement? I don’t really know if the league has ever seen a receiver become “good” in his age-28 season before.

People often reference the “Monty Hall problem” but maybe in Shaheed’s case is the “Dante Hall problem”; When you try to turn a great return man into a great wide receiver and accept that those are just different skill sets. Shaheed has already put down a better track record on offense than Hall — a former elite Chiefs receiver — but he’s going to be 28 next season. What should that resume be worth to teams as a free agent:

• He’s starting the contract at age 28 (2-5 years older than most starting WRs these days)

• Career-high season was 719 yards in 2023

• Missed most of 2024 and had knee surgery

• To date has contributed little total production to Seattle offense*

• Contrary to recent 31-yard run, has not been a dual threat most games

*subject to change—we hope!

I like Shaheed, but he IS a return man. That’s what he does. I think his best comparison would be a player like KaVontae Turpin of the Cowboys, not Jameson Williams or Wan’Dale Robinson or a receiver like that. Turpin makes $4.5 million per season and I think Seattle’s cap should be around $6 million per season on a new contract and it won’t go beyond two years. Very few receivers in the league these days are 30+. The exceptions like Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, and Keenan Allen were stars and even they experienced loss of production and abilities around 28-31.

I don’t think that Shaheed has priced himself out of Seattle — it’s probably a bad idea to assess his value right now while he’s on a high, as compared to whatever the opinion of him could be with at least three more Seahawks games (which cost the team nothing to find out what those games yield) to go. I also don’t think he’s changed everything I thought I knew about football.

The Rams played really bad punt coverage, by the way. Let’s keep that in mind.

(Players always want to stay where they are, given that the price is right. It would only be a story if a player said he couldn’t wait to leave.)

If some team comes in from left field and pays Shaheed more than $8 million per year, then I say Seahawks fans should wish him well and say “congratulations!” and take the comp pick. The surprising deals over $8 million I saw in 2025 (Tutu Atwell, Dyami Brown, Josh Palmer) have gone even worse than I expected and I thought those were all absurd overpays.

Nothing I’ve seen yet has made me that concerned about Shaheed’s future, one way or the other. I’m just happy he’s returning the kicks and punts during a playoff season and nothing beyond that.

The Seahawks could draft an interior lineman at any point, including with their first pick, but I’d say it’s probably not a priority. Not saying that it shouldn’t be (I’ve written about why it could be or should be several times this year) but I’d still be surprised if Schneider sees guard or center as Seattle’s top draft priority just based on my observations and typical pick probabilities.

Seaside Joe 2486