TOP STORIES
Report Card
LUMEN FIELD’S TURF GETS AN F, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT THIS ORGANIZATION IS CHEF’S KISS
The NFLPA released its annual report cards Thursday and the Super Bowl champion Seachickens earned the fourth-best overall grade in the league — a massive jump from 15th last year and 14th in 2024. The survey results, released via ESPN, ranked Seattle behind only Miami, Minnesota, and Washington. Schneider was one of just seven GMs to earn a top “A” grade. Macdonald got an A, departed OC Klint Kubiak got an A, DC Aden Durde got an A+, and both owner Jody Allen and GM Schneider rated an A. Basically the only thing the players don’t love about Seattle is the thing they play football on.
Lumen Field’s playing surface was ranked near the bottom of the league, receiving an F grade, tied for the fifth-worst “home field” ranking. Veteran safety Quandre Diggs posted on X: “We just gotta fix our turf!” The good news? Lumen Field is getting real grass this summer for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, so the new ownership group will have a front-row seat to what grass feels like under cleats. Whether they keep it afterward is a question worth roughly a billion dollars. The Paul G. Allen Estate’s sale of the team “is estimated to continue through the 2026 offseason.” New owners, new turf, same chicken energy.
SOURCES →
Free Agency
FOUR DAYS. THAT’S HOW LONG SCHNEIDER HAS TO TAG KW3. HE’S PRETENDING HE CAN’T HEAR YOU.
Keep Reading ↓
Schneider said he’d “love to have Ken back” but noted “it’s about our 70 and our collective.” Translation: we have to pay JSN and Witherspoon too, and math is math. Spotrac estimates Walker could land a four-year, $33.5 million deal in free agency. CBS Sports lists the Jets, Seahawks, Jaguars, Chiefs, Texans, Saints, and Cardinals as best fits for Walker. The league-wide feeding frenzy for the Super Bowl MVP hasn’t slowed down. Tick, tick, tick.
SOURCES →
Cap Watch
THE GUY WHO SEALED THE SUPER BOWL WITH A PICK-SIX IS NOW A “CUT CANDIDATE.” FOOTBALL IS CRUEL.
Keep Reading ↓
The counterargument: “Seattle has plenty of incentive to keep him, especially with fellow outside linebacker Boye Mafe’s contract expiring.” If Mafe walks AND Nwosu gets cut, the edge rotation gets dangerously thin, especially with D-Law’s retirement still a live question. The Seahawks On SI crew doesn’t think it happens: bringing back the core of the Super Bowl defense is the stated goal, and that job is much harder without Nwosu on the field.
SOURCES →
AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
The Cowboys officially tagged George Pickens today at $28.8M, the same approach that ran Micah Parsons out of town six months ago. JSN, watching from afar, takes notes on the WR market rising like Seattle rent. Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports
Combine Day 1: Ohio State’s Sonny Styles posted a historic 43.5-inch vertical, the best ever for a linebacker, and ran a 4.46 forty. At 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds. That’s not a football player, that’s a lab experiment. CBS Sports CBS Sports
Schneider admitted the 2026 draft class is weaker than 2025, which is “why you saw us make some of the decisions we made” — including dealing a fourth and fifth-round pick for Rashid Shaheed at the trade deadline. Three return touchdowns later, no regrets. Seattle Sports Seattle Sports
Schneider on a Darnold extension: “Sam signed a three-year deal.” Pressed again: “There’s three years.” The Seachickens’ policy of no extensions with more than a year remaining holds firm. Sleep easy, Sam. Your bag is safe. For now. Spokesman-Review Spokesman-Review
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Remember when the Rams proposed a rule change to outlaw the Zachwards Pass — the two-point conversion play that helped end their season in the NFC Championship? Well, while they work on banning fun, they’re also debating whether to TRADE Puka Nacua, who just led the NFL with 129 receptions. One analyst called extending him “insane” and compared him to Antonio Brown. A trade is almost certainly not going to happen, but the mere existence of this conversation is delicious. Also, they promoted Nate Scheelhaase to OC. The Rams: where you get a new coordinator every year and a rule change proposal every time Seattle scores.
NINERS
The Niners’ offseason is going great. Trent Williams and the 49ers are “struggling to find a contractual solution” on his $38.8 million cap hit, and he could be released. GM John Lynch admitted at the Combine that improving the pass rush is the “top priority” after ranking 29th in pass-rush win rate. They’re exploring trades for Kayvon Thibodeaux and still trying to sell Mac Jones to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, their entire offense was channeled through a 32-year-old McCaffrey who had a league-high 413 touches. The 49ers: where the future is always next year.
CARDINALS
The Cardinals finished 31st in the NFLPA report cards, one spot better than dead last, where they were last year! Progress! Owner Michael Bidwill was the only NFL owner to receive an F grade. The only one! In a league with 32 teams! Players have complained about being charged for meals and outdated facilities. Bidwill has previously called the report cards “totally bogus.” Sure, Mike. That’s what the kid with the F on his math test says too. They went 3-14, they’re trying to trade Kyler Murray, and their locker room literally got an F-minus. Other than that, things are going well in the desert.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
Kenneth Walker III averaged 139 scrimmage yards per game in the 2025 postseason. Who was the last Seahawk to have consecutive playoff games with 100+ scrimmage yards before Walker’s 2025 run?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Marshawn Lynch, in the 2014 playoffs (the Seahawks’ Super Bowl XLIX run). Beast Mode had 100+ scrimmage yards in the Divisional Round against Carolina and the NFC Championship against Green Bay. Walker became the first since Lynch.
THE MAILBAG
Is there any world where we keep all four of KW3, JSN, Witherspoon, AND re-sign Mafe? Show your math.
— Spreadsheet Steve in Snohomish
Oh, Steve. You beautiful, numerically-minded bird. Let me try.
The Seahawks have just over $58.6 million in cap space, per OverTheCap. Now let’s spend it. KW3’s market value is projected around $33.5M over four years, so roughly $8-9M/year. JSN wants to be the highest-paid receiver in the NFL, meaning $40M+/year. Witherspoon projects at nearly $30M/year. Mafe, coming off 2.0 sacks, is probably a $6-8M/year guy somewhere else.
Here’s the thing: the JSN and Witherspoon extensions don’t have to crush the 2026 cap. Schneider can structure those deals to minimize the 2026 hit while pushing money into future years, which is what extensions are for. In theory, you could keep Walker on a backloaded deal, extend JSN and Spoon with low first-year cap numbers, and sign Mafe for modest money. In theory.
In practice? Schneider himself said: “It’s gonna be a challenge to figure this year’s puzzle out.” That’s GM-speak for “I’m doing math at 2 AM and the numbers are fighting me.” Can it be done? Mathematically, yes. Will it be done? Ask Schneider. He’ll pretend he can’t hear you.
Got a question for the Mailbag? 🐔
Send your Seahawks takes, salary cap fever dreams, and rival roasts to us. We read everything. (We answer selectively.)
See you tomorrow. — The Rooster