TOP STORIES
Free Agency
ESPN Says The Quiet Part Out Loud: KW3 Is Generating ‘Enough Outside Interest To Spell The End Of His Time In Seattle.’ And Schneider Already Has A Contingency Plan.
The franchise tag deadline is tomorrow. The Seahawks aren’t using it. And now ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler has put the sharpest possible point on the Kenneth Walker III situation: “Sounds like he’s generating enough outside interest to spell the end of his time in Seattle.”
That’s not speculation from a podcast caller. That’s Jeremy Fowler, from the Combine floor in Indianapolis, citing league sources, and it lands like a gut punch even if most of us saw it coming. Dan Graziano backed it up in the same report, writing that Walker “sounds like he’s generating enough outside interest” to leave. The Chiefs, Texans, Jaguars, Jets, Panthers — the list of suitors isn’t shrinking. It’s growing. The Athletic projects a 4-year, $52 million deal for Walker, which would make him a top-five running back in total contract value. Good for Kenneth. Terrible for our hearts.
But here’s where it gets really interesting. Fowler also dropped this nugget: Lions RB David Montgomery “wants out” of Detroit, is owed just $6 million in 2026, and Detroit would want roughly a Day 3 pick (possibly a fifth-rounder) in return. The kicker? “Seattle makes sense here if it can’t re-sign Kenneth Walker III.” That’s not me connecting dots with red string on a corkboard. That’s Fowler saying it out loud.
Montgomery pushed back on social media with a sarcastic “Damn, Dmo told you that?” — but Lions GM Brad Holmes didn’t exactly slam the door at the Combine, saying “a player has to want to be at a certain place as well.” Detroit is $12 million over the cap and prioritizing a Jahmyr Gibbs extension. The math is matheing. The vibes are not vibing.
Montgomery at $6M vs. Walker at $13M/year. That’s not a football decision, that’s a CPA’s fever dream. Charbonnet on the PUP list until at least Week 6. Schneider clutching his clipboard at the Combine, doing calculations that would make a NASA engineer nervous. The clock is screaming.
SOURCES →
Combine Intel
Seahawks Met With Seven Defensive Backs At The Combine, And Brandon Cisse’s Name Keeps Coming Up At Pick 32
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The full meeting list reads like a defensive-back all-you-can-eat buffet: CBs Cisse, Avieon Terrell (Clemson), Keith Abney (Arizona State), and Devin Moore (Florida). On the safety side: Dillon Thieneman (Oregon), Zakee Wheatley (Penn State), and Kamari Ramsey (USC). If Schneider shows up to the draft podium and doesn’t call a DB’s name, I’ll eat my keyboard.
The context makes this even louder: Riq Woolen, Josh Jobe, and Coby Bryant are all free agents. Macdonald’s defense lives in nickel, it breathes nickel, it sleeps in nickel, so you can never have enough good DBs in this scheme. With the Seahawks holding just four draft picks, every single meeting matters, and the early signal couldn’t be clearer: defense-heavy draft approach, secondary first. The board is basically a secondary shopping list with a few polite nods to other positions.
SOURCES →
Year 2
Macdonald Wants To Unleash Emmanwori Everywhere: ‘Nick Can Play Corner. I Wouldn’t Rule That Out.’
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Emmanwori’s rookie stat line — 81 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 9 TFLs, 11 passes defensed, and an interception in 14 games — was already absurd for a second-round nickel. Legitimately unfair. But Macdonald sees more. He told reporters that Emmanwori “already plays on the line of scrimmage” and “could play a deep-threat, third level of the defense.” That’s line of scrimmage to deep third. Every blade of grass on the field.
Macdonald wants Emmanwori to be the football equivalent of a Swiss Army knife that also happens to bench press 300 pounds. And the scariest part? Even Emmanwori thinks he’s just getting started: “I know I’m just scratching the surface.” He’s 22 years old and already a problem. Sleep lightly, NFC West quarterbacks. Sleep lightly.
SOURCES →
AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Tory Horton had surgery on his shin and won’t participate in spring workouts, Macdonald confirmed at the Combine. Training camp is the first realistic checkpoint for the WR/returner who scored six touchdowns before going down in Week 9. Suddenly that Shaheed re-signing isn’t 1A — it’s screaming red-alert 1A with sirens. Heavy
Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman put on one of the all-time great Combine performances: 4.35-second 40, 41-inch vertical, 10’5″ broad jump. The Seahawks met with him in Indy. He was already a projected first-rounder; now he might go top-15. File under: guys we fell in love with at the Combine who will be long gone by pick 32. Seahawks Draft Blog
Schneider told the Rich Eisen Show he wants Sam Darnold to be the Seahawks’ quarterback “for a long time.” He also said winning the Super Bowl makes the team a bigger free agent draw. Somewhere right now, an agent is furiously recalculating his client’s hometown discount while muttering curse words. Seattle Sports
The Cowboys franchise-tagged WR George Pickens on Friday. The Jets are expected to tag or extend Breece Hall. The running back free agent class (Walker, Hall, Etienne) is about to get very weird very fast once tags expire tomorrow at 4 PM ET. Chaos has a schedule, and it’s about 24 hours away. NFL.com
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Remember when the Rams proposed a rule change to outlaw the Zachwards Pass? Good times. Incredible times, really. Anyway, they reportedly had “lukewarm” interest in Aaron Rodgers as a Matthew Stafford backup plan, which is the most Rams thing I’ve ever heard. “We don’t want the 42-year-old quarterback, but if he’s available, you know, we’re lukewarm.” That’s not a free agency strategy. That’s ordering soup at a restaurant you didn’t want to go to. Meanwhile, they lost the NFC Championship to a play they’re now trying to make illegal. The healing continues, slowly, publicly, and with proposed legislation.
NINERS
The 49ers reportedly believe Mac Jones’ trade value should be that of a “top 20 starter” in the league. One executive said teams would have to “knock their socks off” to land him. I need you to read that again. Top 20 starter. Friends, Mac Jones started 10 games for a team that went 12-5 and got bounced in the Divisional Round by our Seachickens, 41-6. That’s not a top-20 starter résumé, that’s a guy who happened to be standing near a Lamborghini when it crashed. Kyle Shanahan is out here trying to sell a 2019 Honda Civic for Porsche prices and calling it “market correction.” This is the team that lost to us twice this year. The delusion isn’t a phase. It’s structural.
CARDINALS
The Arizona Cardinals are reportedly interested in signing Jimmy Garoppolo as their new quarterback. Jimmy G. The man who lost a Super Bowl to the Chiefs. Who got benched for Trey Lance. Who got suspended for PEDs. Who backed up Matthew Stafford in LA. That Jimmy Garoppolo. This franchise collects other teams’ discarded quarterbacks like it’s a hobby. GM Monti Ossenfort said “all options are on the table” regarding Kyler Murray, which is code for “we are setting this table on fire.” They fired Jonathan Gannon after going 15-36, hired the Rams’ OC Mike LaFleur, and now they want the Rams’ backup quarterback. At this point they should just merge with LA and save everyone the trouble. They hold the No. 3 pick. They have $31.6 million in cap space. They are speedrunning a rebuild with no guardrails. Godspeed, desert birds.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
Kenneth Walker III became the first running back to win Super Bowl MVP since which player?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Terrell Davis, who won the award after Super Bowl XXXII following the 1997 season.
THE GOLDEN EGG
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We’re three weeks removed from the Super Bowl and honestly, it still doesn’t feel real that a second-round rookie from South Carolina walked into Mike Macdonald’s defense and immediately became the most disruptive chess piece in the NFL. Emmanwori played 14 games, started 11, and put up a stat line — 81 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 9 TFLs, 11 passes defensed, 1 INT — that most veterans would frame and hang over their fireplace.
But the numbers don’t capture how he did it. Emmanwori lined up in the box on 51% of his snaps (per Next Gen Stats), at slot corner on 30%+, and at edge rusher on 10%+. Offensive coordinators couldn’t game-plan around him because he was everywhere. Kyle Hamilton watched from the Pro Bowl and said the quiet part loud: “Mike puts guys in the best position to make plays.”
And now Macdonald says Year 2 will feature even more positions. Corner snaps. Deep safety reps. The full Macdonald experience. Emmanwori himself said it best after hoisting the trophy: “I know I’m just scratching the surface.” The NFC West is not ready.
81
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sacks
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passes defensed
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TFLs
THE MAILBAG
Will Schneider use any of the cap space on a veteran QB backup or just roll with whoever is behind Geno?
— Cap Space Carl in Capitol Hill
Carl, bless your heart for still calling him Geno — some of us are emotionally adjusting to the Sam Darnold era at different speeds and that’s okay. But to your actual question: Schneider told the Rich Eisen Show he wants Darnold to be the Seahawks’ QB “for a long time,” which strongly implies they’re not spending significant capital on the backup spot. Why would they? They just won the whole thing.
Here’s the thing: the Seahawks have roughly $59.6M in cap space, and that sounds like a lot until you start listing what needs to happen. They need to extend JSN (who wants Ja’Marr Chase money at $40.25M/yr). Extend Witherspoon (~$27M/yr projected). Potentially re-sign Walker or find a replacement. Re-sign Shaheed. Figure out the edge rusher situation with Mafe likely gone and D-Law’s retirement a real possibility. That’s a mountain of money going to a mountain of places that aren’t “backup quarterback.” The cap is generous. It’s not magic.
My best guess? They bring back a camp body on a minimum deal, someone who can hold the clipboard and not cause a five-alarm panic if Darnold misses a series. The Seahawks just won the Super Bowl with their starter playing every game, so the backup QB position is approximately Priority No. 47 on Schneider’s whiteboard right now, sandwiched somewhere between “new turf at Lumen Field” and “figure out what’s happening with Tory Horton’s shin.”
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See you tomorrow. — The Rooster