John Schneider Discusses Seahawks' Original Offseason Expectations

Depending on who you ask, the Seattle Seahawks have had either an excellent or terrible offseason. They lost five quality free agents but retained the vast majority of their large class, adding a few players around that to fill in the gaps.

On top of all that, they inked wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a record four-year, $168.6 million extension that made him the highest-paid receiver in the league.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider expected there to be some losses, even if they wanted to keep the players that left. After a Super Bowl-winning season, it's almost inevitable — other teams will want what the champion has.

"We have talked about it before, obviously, we want to keep as many guys as we possibly can," Schneider said during Smith-Njigba's contract extension press conference, per Seahawks.com's John Boyle. "However you look at it, fortunately or unfortunately, [roster turnover] is just part of the business, it's part of the job that we've all jumped into, and we're going to miss the guys that have left. And we're going to dive in even more into the guys that are still on our team. And we had planned for this. Joey Laine and our group upstairs, as you approach free agency, free agency meetings, what that looks like, getting through the combine, speaking to everybody down there, seeing what the landscape's going to look like."

Feb 5, 2026; San Jose, CA, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) talks to media members at the San Jose Marriott. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The most detrimental departures were running back Kenneth Walker III — particularly due to Zach Charbonnet's ACL injury — and safety Coby Bryant. Both were starters and key pieces of the Seahawks' championship, with Walker bolstering himself as a free agent candidate via an incredible playoff run.

Bryant and Walker were each offered lucrative deals with other teams, and the Seahawks wouldn't have been able to execute their entire offseason plan if they paid market price.

Smith-Njigba's massive extension proved the Seahawks and Schneider had big plans. With another big deal on the horizon for cornerback Devon Witherspoon, the franchise had to preserve cap space.

"But obviously it's draft and retain," Schneider added. "This is a great example of drafting and developing, and keeping it in-house. And that's been our priority since we got here in 2010. So that hasn't changed. But the strategy of it is trying to extend our guys as much as we possibly can. We have a cool mix of guys that are just kind of hitting like their first time in free agency and veterans that have been through free agency before. And it's just a really cool mix of older and younger guys. It's pretty neat."

With the draft still incoming, not much has changed on the Seahawks' prospects of competing for another Super Bowl.

The run game's success is the biggest wild card with new rushers and a new offensive coordinator in Brian Fleury. That could sink or soar the 2026 offense.

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