5 Reasons the Seahawks Defense Will Be Even Better Next Season
Every level of the Seahawks defense stands to get better next season
The Seattle Seahawks had one of the most successful defenses in NFL history last season, ranking first in points allowed and leading to the franchise’s second Super Bowl win. However, some would say that not only did the Seahawks have a better defense in 2013, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing given the historic significance of the Legion of Boom, but that Seattle’s defense wasn’t even the best in the league last year.
They would say it was the Houston Texans. They might even rank the Denver Broncos higher too.
Agree or disagree with the regular season rankings, the Seahawks were still the “most successful” defense because they did enough to shut down the MVP and the MVP runner-up in both the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl, back-to-back, to be the last team standing.
That’s what Seattle did when they weren’t universally recognized as having the best defense in the NFL. Will any team be able to stop the Seahawks if they are undeniably the best defense next season? There are at least five reasons that they didn’t even hit their defensive ceiling yet:
#1 - DeMarcus Lawrence is back
There were two players on Seattle’s defense above all who didn’t get the recognition from non-Seahawks fans for just how elite they were last season:
LB Ernest Jones
DE DeMarcus Lawrence
They got recognition. Lawrence made the Pro Bowl, and Jones was named as a second-team All-Pro. But how many people were willing to push the narrative that Lawrence was a top-five end—better than Danielle Hunter or Maxx Crosby—despite only getting six sacks?
Those sack totals were largely a byproduct of fewer opportunities, as Mike Macdonald asks defensive linemen to drop into coverage more often than any other defensive coordinator.
Sacks matter—so does context
I’m not going to be one of these people who say that “sacks don’t matter” or that sacks are “as good as pressures”, because I think both of those statements are crap. It’s usually what people say when overrated pass rushers like Jadeveon Clowney don’t get sacks. Lawrence is not overrated.
Lawrence had six sacks on 374 pass rush opportunities—but what is an “opportunity”? If Lawrence drops into coverage on a pass attempt, that’s not an opportunity. By comparison, Aidan Hutchinson led the NFL with 571 pass rush opportunities. He had almost 200 more opportunities and he had 14.5 sacks.
If you put Lawrence on the Lions instead of Hutchinson and said, “Your main goal is to sack the quarterback” who is to say he couldn’t get at least 12?
Lawrence’s intelligence as a 12-year veteran who knows that the position is not all about sacks was on display during Seattle’s “game-winning” stop against the Rams in the NFC Championship:
Recognizing that Rams running back Kyren Williams had passed Julian Love and would be wide open for a touchdown, Lawrence drops into coverage to shut off Matthew Stafford’s best option.
By NOT chasing the sack, Lawrence forced the stop.
Most players in his position would thirst for the opportunity to blitz Stafford. Lawrence’s instinct to help the team over himself was apparent all season, especially on those key short yardage situations.
All-22 Films released a video on Lawrence this week, highlighting his impact on those plays in 2025:
Among the key takeaways from All-22’s video:
Lawrence’s versatility—the ability to switch from end to 4i defensive tackle—and go head-up against a guard or a tackle, allows Macdonald to play him at multiple positions and in a variety of ways (2:40)
Having run-defense specialists like Lawrence and Leonard Williams as the first line of defense takes certain offensive coordinators (like McVay and Shanahan) out of their comfort zone on third/fourth-and-short situations. (6:20)
His contact balance—his ability to stay up and follow a play even when he’s being engaged and contorted “out of position” but be able to finish the job—is elite (1:50)
Lawrence isn’t just a glorified designated pass rusher like many others. He’s the player who unlocked his teammates—including designated pass rushers—in Macdonald’s defense.
Who do you think will lead the Seahawks in sacks next season?
He’s also a bargain
Now take everything I just said about Lawrence, an elite defensive end who can either play really wide or move well inside, and calculate that his 2026 salary cap hit is $11.7 million. That’s barely more than 25-percent of what T.J. Watt makes. It’s less than one-third of what Maxx Crosby makes. It’s half what Nick Bosa makes.
He makes more than $5 million less than Boye Mafe, a player who was far more interchangeable (as we’ve found out) than Lawrence.
Had Lawrence opted to retire, the Seahawks may have needed to be the team that traded for Crosby or Myles Garrett, or signed Trey Hendrickson. That’s when Seattle starts to look desperate because you’re not going to replace Lawrence with Dante Fowler.
So not only does Lawrence’s return help the defense in very direct, obvious ways, it also sent a ripple effect through the organization that allowed John Schneider and Macdonald to draft Jadarian Price in the first round, avoid costly trades and overpaid free agents, and use both day two picks on the secondary.
Lawrence doesn’t only keep the bar high for the defense. His return takes it even higher.
#2 - Nick Emmanwori will be even more versatile
Another way that Lawrence makes the defense better is what he’s been working on with second-year Swiss Army knife Nick Emmanwori.
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