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Contract Watch
JSN Says He Deserves to Be the Highest-Paid Wide Receiver in the NFL. He Is Not Wrong. This Is Going to Cost a Lot.
In an interview with WFAA’s Jonah Javad this week, Jaxon Smith-Njigba made his position crystal clear: he wants to be the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. The current record belongs to Ja’Marr Chase at $40.25 million per year. JSN is telling you, calmly and with complete confidence, that he expects to top it.
The resume makes the argument for him. In 2025 he caught 119 passes for a franchise-record 1,793 yards, the eighth-most in a single season in NFL history. He won AP Offensive Player of the Year. He made two Pro Bowls. He is 24 years old. Spotrac projects his market value at $37.73 million per year. JSN, learning to be a good businessman, disagrees with Spotrac’s math. “I know my time is coming,” he told WFAA, “and when we get it done, it’s going to be a great deal for both sides.” The man is not worried. The Seahawks, staring down a May 1 fifth-year option deadline, are mildly more worried than he is.
The good news: Seattle has $63.4 million in cap space. The complicated news: they also need to extend Devon Witherspoon, sort out the KW3 situation in 9 days, and absorb Charbonnet’s ACL recovery. Something will have to give. The likely answer is creative contract structuring and a lot of stressful phone calls in March.
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Free Agency Watch
KW3 Is 9 Days From Free Agency. Everyone Wants Him Back. The Math Is the Hard Part.
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ESPN’s Bill Barnwell estimated $12–14 million per year is reasonable for Walker, noting the running back market has stagnated. The Draft Network projected a three-year, $40.5 million deal. Heavy.com suggests Seattle may need to approach $50 million total to lock him up. Meanwhile, Schneider, who has used the franchise tag exactly twice in 16 years, has already been reported as unlikely to tag Walker. The Jaguars, Jets, Panthers, Chiefs, and Broncos are all mentioned as potential landing spots if he hits the open market. With Charbonnet now on the PUP track and the new league year opening March 11, Seattle’s urgency is real and the window is closing fast.
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Injury Update
Charbonnet Had ACL Surgery Friday. He May Start 2026 on PUP. The Run Game Math Just Got Complicated.
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This lands directly on top of the KW3 situation. If Walker walks and Charbonnet starts the year on PUP, Seattle’s backfield is Kenny McIntosh and whoever they find in free agency or the draft. Sports Illustrated identifies the injury as a key reason the Seahawks essentially have to keep KW3. That is a reasonable read. A Super Bowl-contending offense built around Brian Fleury’s “fast, violent, aggressive” philosophy needs an actual running back to make it work.
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Sale Watch
The Seahawks’ Sale Price Is $10 Billion. Or $6.7B. Or Whatever Someone Will Actually Pay. A Helpful Explainer.
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So forget the $6.7B figure. Forget the $6.59B figure. The real number is whatever emerges from a competitive bidding process among billionaires who want to own an NFL team. Jeff Bezos has exited stage left. Someone else with very large pockets will enter stage right. The NFL requires owner ratification to complete the sale, so this plays out over several months, but the process is moving, the bankers are billing, and the number is going to surprise people.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
The NFL Scouting Combine opens tomorrow, February 23, in Indianapolis. Seattle picks 30th. Cornerback and edge rusher are the priorities. The combine runs through March 2. Start memorizing names. Seahawks.com Seahawks.com
The franchise tag deadline is March 3. John Schneider has used the franchise tag exactly twice in 16 years as GM. He’s unlikely to make it three. The clock is not whispering. Field Gulls Field Gulls
The LA Rams promoted Nate Scheelhaase to offensive coordinator this week, replacing the departed coordinator who left after LA’s NFC Championship loss to Seattle. The Rams are rebuilding their coaching staff while also filing a rule change proposal. Busy offseason in a quarter-zip. AP / Seattle Sports AP / Seattle Sports
WR Rashid Shaheed has confirmed he’s “absolutely” interested in re-signing with Seattle, per NFL.com’s Eric Edholm. His snap share dropped after the midseason trade from New Orleans, but his special teams impact, including that Super Bowl gunner play, was real. Heavy.com / NFL.com Heavy.com / NFL.com
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Sean McVay called the Seahawks’ game-winning fourth-down conversion in the NFC Championship a “fortuitous bust” — the term coaches use when the other team executes a play perfectly and they don’t want to say that out loud. The Rams then filed a formal rule change proposal to make that specific play type illegal. They also promoted a new offensive coordinator. The Rams are handling the offseason with tremendous equanimity and zero sour grapes.
NINERS
The 49ers lost their offensive coordinator Brian Fleury to Seattle, where he will attempt to improve upon an offense that just won the Super Bowl. San Francisco’s response has been dignified silence, which we interpret as acceptance. Also, Brock Purdy continues to have a very winning personality. We remain unintimidated.
CARDINALS
The Cardinals are exploring trading Kyler Murray, have the lowest projected win total in the NFL, and their new offensive coordinator is Nathaniel Hackett, the man who called plays for the 2022 Broncos. The 2022 Broncos scored fewer points than any offense in modern NFL history. The Cardinals chose this. We respect the commitment.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
John Schneider has been Seahawks GM for 16 seasons and has used the franchise tag exactly twice. Name both players he tagged.
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Kicker Olindo Mare in 2010 (who played on his tag and left the following year) and defensive end Frank Clark in 2019 (who was traded to Kansas City for a first-round pick that became L.J. Collier). Two tags in 16 years. Schneider does not tag people. This is relevant.
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
1989
Tom Flores Named President & GM — The Two-Time Super Bowl Champion Comes to Seattle
On this date in 1989, the Seahawks named Tom Flores as president and general manager. Flores was already a legend: a two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders (Super Bowl XV and XVIII), the first Latino head coach to win a Super Bowl, and the first person to win championships as a player, assistant, and head coach. He would eventually move to the sideline, becoming Seahawks head coach in 1992 after Chuck Knox’s nine-year tenure. His coaching stint in Seattle (1992–1994) went 14–34, which was not the championship era anyone had hoped for — but his legacy as a Raider remains one of the great coaching careers in NFL history. The Seahawks have been blessed with rather better outcomes from their more recent front office appointments.
THE MAILBAG
What happens if KW3 walks AND Charbonnet starts the year on PUP? Is the run game just… gone?
— Panicking in Pioneer Square
Dear Panicking: In the absolute worst-case scenario, Walker signs with Jacksonville and Charbonnet opens the year on PUP, Seattle’s backfield would consist of Kenny McIntosh, whoever they sign in the next three weeks of free agency, and whoever they draft in April. That’s not nothing, but it’s also not the Super Bowl MVP and his backup. The good news is that this exact nightmare scenario is precisely why John Schneider will work extremely hard to avoid it. The Seahawks have cap space, Schneider has talked publicly about wanting Walker back, and the economics of the deal ($12–14M/year per Barnwell) are genuinely manageable for a team with $63 million in room. The franchise doesn’t let its Super Bowl MVP walk into the Jaguars’ arms while Charbonnet is in a brace. That would be an all-timer of an offseason own-goal. Breathe. They’ll figure it out.
Got a take? A question? A bone to pick?
Send us your contract math, hot takes on the sale, or thoughts on what it feels like to watch Tom Flores’ Wikipedia page. We’ll read all of it.
See you tomorrow. — The Rooster