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Kenneth Walker Returns to Lumen Field on Sunday Night Football. The Schedule Has Teeth.
The full 2026 schedule dropped Thursday night, and the NFL didn’t just give Seattle six primetime games. It gave them a narrative arc. Kenneth Walker III returns to Lumen Field in Week 7 as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, under the Sunday Night Football lights, seven months after winning Super Bowl MVP on the same turf.
Let that breathe. The man who ran for 135 yards against the Patriots in February is coming back in October wearing red. Seahawks reporter Corbin K. Smith confirmed the matchup on X, adding that Patrick Mahomes should be fully recovered from his ACL by then. The last time the Chiefs visited Seattle for a regular-season game was 2018, a 38-31 shootout. This one has more layers than that.
The full slate gives Seattle a franchise-record six primetime games, including five at Lumen Field. The stretch from Weeks 6 through 8 is brutal in the best way: at Denver on Thursday Night Football, home for the Chiefs on Sunday Night, then the Bears on Monday Night. Three straight primetime games. Three different broadcast windows. The Seahawks will essentially live on national television for three weeks.
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Franchise-record primetime games for Seattle in 2026, including five at Lumen Field.
The schedule also features a Christmas Day game against the Rams on FOX, closing a season bookended by NFC Championship rematches. The Seahawks open September 9 against the Patriots and finish the regular season at the Rams. Between those two games: 10 matchups against playoff teams, a Week 11 bye, and only two 10 a.m. PT kickoffs all year.
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Front Office
The Vikings Want Nolan Teasley. Seattle Would Get Two Third-Round Picks If They Take Him.
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Teasley walked into the VMAC as a scouting intern in 2013. He’s been there ever since, climbing from pro scout to director of pro personnel to assistant GM. The Athletic’s agent survey two years ago gave him votes as one of the league’s best talent evaluators. If the Vikings hire him, the Seahawks would receive two third-round compensatory picks. That’s the NFL’s poaching rule working as intended: take our brain, give us draft capital.
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Third-round compensatory picks Seattle would receive if Teasley is hired as Vikings GM.
The Vikings fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in January and have been running the search with interim GM Rob Brzezinski. They didn’t name a replacement before the draft, which is unusual. The candidate pool is heavy on assistant GMs from across the league. Teasley’s name carries the most hardware.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
The Seahawks dropped their schedule release video Thursday night, a fragrance commercial parody featuring Marshawn Lynch, AJ Barner, Nick Emmanwori, and actors Joel McHale and Josh Lucas. Lynch’s first question before filming: “Can I use the F word?” The man is consistent. Seahawks.com Seahawks.com
Sam Darnold appeared alongside Marshawn Lynch in comedian Adam Ray’s Netflix special, filmed in Seattle. Ray teased it’s “coming soon to Netflix.” Two eras of Seahawks quarterbacking on the same stage, and neither of them is Russell Wilson. Heavy Heavy
The preseason schedule is out: Cowboys at home August 15, at Tennessee August 23, at Kansas City August 28. All three kick off at 5 p.m. PT. Hard Knocks cameras will be rolling for every one. Seahawks.com Seahawks.com
Stacy Rost at Seattle Sports addressed why Devon Witherspoon hasn’t been extended yet: he and agent Reggie Johnson played hardball during his rookie deal too. The precedent says the deal gets done. The timeline says don’t panic until camp. Seattle Sports Seattle Sports
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
The Rams open in Melbourne, host the inaugural Thanksgiving Eve game on Netflix against the Packers, and play the Seahawks on Christmas Day at Lumen Field. Three standalone broadcast windows before they even get to their regular primetime slate. Meanwhile, Matthew Stafford’s extension that was reportedly “close” in April is still not done. The reigning NFL MVP is carrying a $48.3 million cap hit on an expiring deal and the Rams drafted his replacement at pick 13. Somewhere in Thousand Oaks, Ty Simpson is watching film and trying not to look too eager.
NINERS
The 49ers open in Melbourne against the Rams, host the Vikings in Mexico City, and play at Seattle twice. Niners Nation already identified Seattle as “the obvious candidate to regress” in 2026. They scored six points against the Seahawks in the divisional round in January. Six. They then wrote 800 words about how scoring a touchdown against Seattle next year “would be a step in the right direction.” Aim high, San Francisco.
CARDINALS
Arizona has zero primetime games in 2026. Not one. They open on the road for the fourth straight year, play six of their first nine away from home, and have the hardest projected schedule in the NFL. The Cardinals’ schedule release video featured their mascot Big Red, because there are no recognizable players to put in it. At least their bye is in Week 14, so they’ll have extra time to prepare for meaningless December football.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
Jason Myers set the Super Bowl record for most field goals in Super Bowl LX against the Patriots, breaking a mark previously shared by four kickers. How many field goals did Myers make in the game?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Five. Myers drilled all five attempts and scored 17 of Seattle’s 29 points, also becoming the first player in NFL history to score 200-plus combined regular season and postseason points in a single year (206).
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
2002
May 15, 2002
The Stadium Gets Its First Name
On this date in 2002, it was announced that the Seahawks’ new home field would be called Seahawks Stadium and Exhibition Center. Built on the site where the Kingdome once stood, the venue would host its first game three months later. The name lasted exactly two years before Qwest bought the naming rights in 2004. It’s been Qwest Field, CenturyLink Field, and Lumen Field since. Four names, one address, one very loud building.
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Six primetime games. One Wednesday night opener. A Christmas Day rematch. The schedule isn't a document. It's a dare. Go Hawks. — The Rooster