TOP STORIES
Cap Watch
THE NFL SET THE CAP AT $301.2 MILLION. SCHNEIDER HAS $59.6M. NOW DO THE MATH ON KW3, JSN, AND SPOON.
The NFL dropped the 2026 salary cap number on Friday: $301.2 million per team, a $22 million bump from last year but landing at the low end of the projected range. That’s on the low end of the projected range ($301.2 million to $305.7 million), but it still marks a $22 million increase over last year’s salary cap. For the Seachickens, that translates to approximately $59.6 million in cap space, the sixth-most of any team in the league. Sounds like a lot! Until you remember the shopping list.
A significant chunk could go toward long-term deals for AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba and three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon, both entering the final year of their rookie contracts and eligible for extensions. JSN wants $40M+/yr. Witherspoon will command close to $30M. KW3 is about to be the hottest running back on the open market. The franchise tag deadline is Monday, March 3, three days from now, and ESPN has already reported Seattle is unlikely to use it. Schneider at the Combine this week when asked about tagging Walker: “That’s a good try,” he said with a laugh. “… I couldn’t hear you.” Classic Schneider. The man could dodge a question at a lie detector test. The math is tight, the clock is loud, and the coffee in Indianapolis better be strong.
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Edge Watch
THE NWOSU PARADOX: $20M CAP HIT, SUPER BOWL PICK-SIX, AND THE WORST MATH PROBLEM IN SEATTLE
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The bigger picture is the edge rusher carousel. DeMarcus Lawrence is still “to be determined” on whether he’ll retire or return. Retirement was a consideration a year ago, and now, after winning a Super Bowl, will he decide to go out on a high? Boye Mafe is two weeks from free agency after being benched for much of the season. The Seahawks still have Derick Hall under contract for one more season, and Rylie Mills is healthy and terrifying. But if both D-Law and Nwosu depart? That’s a lot of alpha energy walking out the door. Dugar noted Seattle has “plenty of incentive to keep him, especially with fellow outside linebacker Boye Mafe’s contract expiring.” Our bet: a restructure is more likely than a release. But the math has to math.
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Combine
MACDONALD TO TOM BRADY: “THANKS FOR STEALING OUR OC”
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Macdonald on Charbonnet’s ACL recovery: “It’s more optimistic than it was initially. So that’s exciting.” But added he is “not gonna do anything in the spring.” Translation: PUP list is still the plan, but maybe not the whole season. Charb’s comeback Heavy Heavy
Schneider at the Combine: “Here we go; we’re moving.” He said he plans to meet this week with agents of all of the Seahawks’ potential unrestricted free agents — Walker, Jobe, Woolen, Mafe, Shaheed, Coby Bryant, the whole roster yard sale. Schneider’s agent tour Spokesman-Review Spokesman-Review
The Seahawks signed defensive end Jalan Gaines on Friday. You don’t know who he is. That’s fine. Neither does he, probably. It’s a futures-contract-type energy signing, and it’s February. This is what February looks like. Gaines signing Seahawks.com Seahawks.com
Macdonald confirmed the Seahawks still haven’t gotten a White House invite: “We haven’t gotten an invite yet,” adding the team would handle the situation after that point. Three weeks since the Super Bowl, zero invitations, zero explanations. The silence from Pennsylvania Avenue continues to be deafening. White House watch Heavy Heavy
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
The Rams have now formally submitted TWO rule proposals targeting how tipped backward passes are handled, a direct response to the Zachwards Pass. Not one. Two. They want to treat tipped backward passes beyond the line of scrimmage as “restricted fumbles,” limiting recovery and advancement to the player who initially lost possession. We love that an entire NFL franchise is spending its offseason drafting legislation because Zach Charbonnet picked up a ball while casually strolling through the end zone. The Rams have two first-round picks, a cornerback crisis, and they’re writing laws. Priorities, baby.
NINERS
The 49ers voided all of Brandon Aiyuk’s guaranteed money for 2026 — about $27 million — and need to re-sign Jauan Jennings while dealing with George Kittle possibly missing the start of the season after tearing his Achilles. Oh, and they recorded just 20 sacks in 2025, the lowest number in the NFL, one of just two teams with fewer than 30. The Faithful are entering the offseason with a broken pass rush, a broken tight end, and a WR room held together with vibes and Deebo’s remaining cartilage. Third place in the NFC West has never looked so cozy.
CARDINALS
Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort said about Kyler Murray: “All options are on the table.” You know it’s going well when your GM uses the same phrase a hospital uses before they ask if you’ve considered palliative care. The March 16 deadline looms, when Murray will be guaranteed his $19.5 million base salary for 2027, on top of the $39.8 million already guaranteed for 2026. New head coach Mike LaFleur is evaluating a roster that went 3-14. The Cardinals are, at minimum, entertaining. Just not in the way they intend.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
John Schneider has used the franchise tag only twice in his 16 seasons as Seahawks GM. Name both players who were tagged.
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Kicker Olindo Mare (2010) and defensive end Frank Clark (2019). Mare played out his tag year and left. Clark was traded to the Chiefs for a first-round pick — which became L.J. Collier. We don’t talk about that part.
THE MAILBAG
“Will Schneider use any of the cap space on a veteran QB backup or just roll with whoever is behind Geno— er, Sam?”
— — Cap Space Carl in Capitol Hill
Great question, Carl, and I love the Freudian slip. (We all still reflexively type “Geno” sometimes. It’s okay. Grief is non-linear.)
First: Schneider said on The Rich Eisen Show that he’d like Darnold to be the Seahawks’ QB “for a long time.” That’s the guy. But behind him? There’s no established backup on the roster right now, and the 2026 draft class is light on QB talent. Schneider himself said this class isn’t as strong as 2025’s. The most likely scenario is the Seahawks either bring in a veteran backup via free agency (a guy in the Jacoby Brissett / Case Keenum tier, someone who knows not to lose the game) or they draft a late-rounder to develop. Spending serious cap space on a backup QB when you’ve got KW3, JSN, Witherspoon, and the edge rusher question all competing for that same pie? Unlikely. This will be a “minimum-salary vet plus a seventh-rounder” operation. Schneider has bigger fish to fry. Or bigger chickens to pluck. You get it.
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See you tomorrow. — The Rooster