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NFC West
Schefter Says the Whole Rams Arms Race Started With a Seattle Play
Aaron Donald has been retired since 2024, and now there is real momentum toward a comeback. Adam Schefter said on a recent appearance there is “a lot of momentum” toward Donald rejoining the Rams at 35, two years after he walked away. Nothing is decided. But the smoke is thick enough that the rest of the league is paying attention, and so should we.
Here is the part that should make every Seahawks fan sit up. Schefter traced the entire Rams offseason back to one play in our building. Not a draft pick, not a coaching hire. A backward pass that Zach Charbonnet scooped off the end zone turf in the December comeback that buried Los Angeles 38-37, which set the table for the divisional-round loss that broke their psyche.
38-37
Seattle’s December comeback win over the Rams, capped by the backward-pass two-point conversion Schefter now credits for the entire LA arms race.
His logic: if the Rams win it all last year, they probably never trade for Myles Garrett. They probably never deal for Trent McDuffie. And they probably never get Donald on the phone. Losing to us is the reason they panicked. I would like to formally apologize to the rest of the NFC West for what we created.
So yes, the Rams are stacking Hall of Famers like firewood, and the Christmas Day reservation at Lumen Field looks scarier by the week. But there’s a version of this where a roster built entirely out of fear of one team tells you exactly who that team is. They’re not chasing a title. They’re chasing us.
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A roster built entirely out of fear of one team tells you exactly who that team is. They’re not chasing a title. They’re chasing us.
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Camp Watch
The Rookie DBs Aren’t Waiting Their Turn
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One projection has Clark stepping into the role Coby Bryant vacated, and the comparison holds up: Bryant gave Seattle four years, 227 tackles, 17 passes defensed and seven interceptions before signing with Chicago. That’s the bar. Clark, a six-year college veteran who picked off 15 passes at TCU, is built to clear it eventually.
The thing Macdonald loves is the versatility. He rotates defensive backs through nickel and dime packages like a chef working a busy line, which means Clark doesn’t need to beat out Julian Love or Ty Okada to matter. He just needs to be one of the bodies worth trusting. On this defense, that’s a real job. Hard Knocks is going to eat the Okada-Clark battle alive.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Dave Wyman had a blunt prescription for the stalled Witherspoon talks: pay him Trent McDuffie’s $124 million deal plus a dollar, make him the highest-paid corner, and be done with it. Beautifully simple. The cap is rarely a one-dollar problem, but the spirit is correct. Heavy
ESPN’s Aaron Schatz is still beating the drum to extend Leonard Williams before anyone else, calling it the best move left on Seattle’s board. The Big Cat turns 32 and hits free agency in 2027. Two elite defenders, one checkbook, zero urgency from the building. Cool. Yahoo Sports
Rookies report to the VMAC as early as July 17, among the first in the league to start camp. Defending champs don’t get a longer offseason. Apparently they get a shorter one and an HBO crew in the building. Enjoy the quiet while it lasts. Yardbarker
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
NINERS
San Francisco’s marquee June flex, per a Webzone roundup, is one analyst floating that the 49ers have the best quarterback room in the NFC. The room behind Brock Purdy reportedly now includes Mac Jones. A team that has spent three years insisting Purdy is the answer is suddenly very interested in reminding everyone how good the backup plan is. That’s the kind of confidence you advertise when you’re trying to convince yourself.
CARDINALS
SI’s Cardinals desk declared Marvin Harrison Jr. “perfectly primed” for a 2026 breakout, which is a generous way of saying the No. 4 overall pick’s first two years went nothing like anyone in Arizona imagined. The breakout has been imminent for two seasons now. At some point “primed” becomes a personality trait rather than a forecast.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This Michigan guard was drafted 17th overall by Seattle in 2001 and cleared the path for Shaun Alexander’s MVP season before a poison-pill contract pried him away in 2006. He made seven Pro Bowls and reached Canton in 2020. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Steve Hutchinson. He was a first-round pick in 2001 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020. Losing him to the Vikings on that infamous poison-pill offer sheet is still one of the most painful front-office gut-punches in franchise history.
Got a Question for The Rooster?
Tell me what’s keeping you up at night about this roster, this cap sheet, or this division. The mailbag is open, the coffee is lukewarm, and I answer the good ones. Send it in.
Twenty-seven days until the building fills back up. The Rams can keep collecting Hall of Famers. We'll keep collecting their nightmares. — The Rooster