An early Seahawks 53-man roster projection for 2026

It’s always tough to crack the roster of a reigning Super Bowl champion.

But given the sheer volume of talent returning from the Seattle Seahawks’ 2025 championship-winning team, it’ll be especially difficult this year.

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By snap counts, the Seahawks brought back 14 of their top 15 offensive players, 14 of their top 17 defensive players and 15 of their top 16 special teams players. On top of that, they added eight players in the NFL Draft and several more in free agency.

As a result, there figure to be a lot of fierce roster-spot battles in training camp this summer – and a lot of difficult decisions to trim the roster down to 53 players.

Of course, plenty can change between now and the NFL’s roster cutdown deadline in late August. But with OTAs beginning this week, here’s an early stab at what the Seahawks’ 53-man roster could look like this fall.

Quarterback (3)

• Sam Darnold
• Drew Lock
• Jalen Milroe

The Seahawks will likely roster three quarterbacks again, with Lock serving as one of the league’s most experienced backups and Milroe hanging around as a long-term developmental project. The big question is whether Milroe can carve out a role as a change-of-pace weapon in specialty packages. Seattle briefly experimented with that last season, but effectively shelved the idea after Milroe lost a costly fumble in Week 5.

Running back (3)

• Jadarian Price
• Emanuel Wilson
• George Holani

* PUP list: Zach Charbonnet

Charbonnet seems likely to open the season on the PUP list as he continues to recover from the torn ACL he suffered during the playoffs. Assuming that’s the case, Price is the projected RB1 heading into the fall, with Wilson seemingly in line for the same RB2 role he held the past two seasons with Green Bay.

After that, it could be an interesting battle between Holani and Kenny McIntosh for the RB3 spot. Holani has the inside track at the moment, given that McIntosh is working back from a torn ACL he suffered last summer. Holani played well in the postseason while replacing Charbonnet as the No. 2 back.

Fullback (2)

• Robbie Ouzts
• Brady Russell

The Seahawks are expected to continue using a fullback under new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury, who hails from the same Shanahan coaching tree as previous Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak.

The primary fullback duties likely remain with the 6-foot-3, 274-pound Ouzts, assuming he’s recovered from the neck injury that sidelined him for the NFC title game and the Super Bowl. Russell, meanwhile, is a near-lock to make the roster as Seattle’s de facto special teams captain. He also serves as a hybrid depth piece at both fullback and tight end.

Wide receiver (5)

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba
• Cooper Kupp
• Rashid Shaheed
• Tory Horton
• Jake Bobo

Smith-Njigba, Kupp, Shaheed and Horton are the clear-cut top four receivers – assuming Horton has fully recovered from the shin injury that wiped away the second half of his rookie campaign. Bobo also seems likely to make the roster after Seattle matched Jacksonville’s offer sheet and signed him to a two-year, $5.5 million deal.

The question then becomes: Is there room for a sixth receiver? If so, keep an eye on rookie sixth-round pick Emmanuel Henderson Jr. With his big-time speed, all-around special teams prowess and developmental upside at receiver, Henderson could land a roster spot and give Seattle a hand-in-glove replacement for departed special teams stalwart Dareke Young.

However, at the moment, there’s probably too much of a roster crunch to keep six wideouts. So, for this projection, Henderson is player No. 54 – and someone the Seahawks hope they can get through waivers to the practice squad.

Tight end (3)

• AJ Barner
• Elijah Arroyo
• Eric Saubert

Barner, Arroyo and Saubert are set to return as Seattle’s top three tight ends. After that, we have another difficult roster-crunch decision.

In an ideal world, second-year Nick Kallerup would remain rostered as the fourth tight end. However, with the aforementioned Brady Russell already on the roster as the de facto special teams captain, we’ll save a roster spot by using Russell as the fourth tight end. Russell was Seattle’s fourth tight end in 2023 and 2024 before transitioning to fullback last season, so he could serve as a hybrid depth piece at both positions this fall.

Offensive line (9)

• LT Charles Cross
• LG Grey Zabel
• C Jalen Sundell
• RG Anthony Bradford
• RT Abraham Lucas
• OT Josh Jones
• C Olu Oluwatimi
• OG Beau Stephens
• OG Bryce Cabeldue

After returning every offensive lineman who played snaps last season and then adding Stephens as a Day 3 draft pick, the roster battles in the trenches will be particularly tight.

Cross, Zabel, Sundell, Bradford and Lucas are obviously all locks to make the roster. Jones is set to be the veteran swing tackle again. Stephens, a first-team All-American at Iowa, could push Bradford for the starting right guard job.

Oluwatimi’s name has been floated as a potential trade candidate, given that he’s entering the final year of his rookie deal and his path to a starting job is blocked by Sundell. But for now, we’ll assume he remains in Seattle.

That could essentially leave Cabeldue, tackle/guard Mason Richman, tackle Amari Kight and guard Christian Haynes battling for the final one or two roster spots.

Of those four, we’ll give the edge to Cabeldue, a 2025 sixth-round pick whose athleticism makes him a good fit for the Seahawks’ wide-zone scheme. If Seattle moves on from Bradford after this season, Stephens and Cabeldue could theoretically battle for the starting right guard spot in 2027.

Interior defensive line (5)

• Leonard Williams
• Byron Murphy II
• Jarran Reed
• Rylie Mills
• Deven Eastern

Led by the three-headed monster of Williams, Murphy and Reed, the Seahawks already had arguably the NFL’s top interior defensive line last year. Now, with the potential for a full season of health from Mills, this group could ascend to even greater heights in 2026.

The question here is who emerges with the final roster spot or two. It has the makings of a fierce battle, with Eastern, Brandon Pili, undrafted rookie Uso Seumalo and Mike Morris among the leading candidates. We’ll go with the developmental upside of Eastern, a rookie seventh-round pick from Minnesota whose 6-foot-5, 320-pound frame gives Mike Macdonald & Co. some intriguing clay to mold.

Edge rushers (6)

• DeMarcus Lawrence
• Uchenna Nwosu
• Derick Hall
• Dante Fowler Jr.
• Jared Ivey
• Connor O’Toole

The primary four-man edge-rushing rotation is set with Lawrence, Nwosu, Hall and Fowler. But Seattle also appears to be high on several developmental pieces – Ivey, O’Toole and undrafted rookie Aidan Hubbard.

Keep in mind, the Seahawks kept both Ivey and O’Toole on the 53-man roster throughout last season to protect them from waiver claims, despite neither playing meaningful snaps. That says a lot about how the team views their upside. And as for Hubbard, he reportedly received $267,500 in guaranteed money from Seattle, far more than any other player in the team’s UDFA class.

Given the uncertainty at this position group beyond 2026, the Seahawks may want to keep two of those developmental options on the roster again this fall, with the hope that at least one of them can start earning some rotational snaps. For now, we’ll go with Ivey and O’Toole again, but keep an eye on Hubbard too.

Linebackers (4)

• Ernest Jones IV
• Drake Thomas
• Tyrice Knight
• Chazz Surratt

Jones and Thomas return as the two starting linebackers, while Knight returns to give Seattle the luxury of a starting-caliber backup. For the final spot here, Surratt gets the edge over Patrick O’Connell and Chris Paul Jr. due to his special teams prowess. Surratt finished second on the team with 11 special teams tackles last season – even despite missing six games due to injury.

Safeties (5)

• Nick Emmanwori
• Julian Love
• Bud Clark
• Ty Okada
• Rodney Thomas II

With his Swiss Army knife skill set, Emmanwori technically could fall under multiple position groups as a hybrid nickelback/linebacker/safety defender. But regardless, he’s back as the ultimate chess piece in Macdonald’s scheme, while Love returns as the top traditional safety.

After that, Clark and Okada are both roster locks and co-favorites to earn the second traditional safety spot alongside Love. Clark ultimately projects as the long-term starter there, but if he’s not fully ready to shoulder the load as a rookie in Week 1, Okada has proven plenty capable of doing so. Clark also has a splash of Emmanwori-like positional versatility, so expect him to move around the field a bit too.

Similar to Okada, Thomas also could be an option to start early on if Clark isn’t ready for full-time snaps just yet. Thomas made 26 starts over four seasons with Indianapolis, which ultimately gives him the nod for the final roster spot here over D’Anthony Bell and AJ Finley.

Cornerbacks (5)

• Devon Witherspoon
• Josh Jobe
• Julian Neal
• Nehemiah Pritchett
• Noah Igbinoghene

Witherspoon and Jobe return as Seattle’s top two corners. After that, several players could be in the mix for the third corner spot.

Neal is the favorite to earn that role in the long run, but there’s certainly no guarantee he’ll be ready to start as a rookie in Week 1. Regardless, as a third-round pick, he’s a lock to make the roster.

Pritchett seems to be entering a make-or-break year, with this potentially being his last good shot to carve out a significant role in Seattle. His familiarity in Macdonald’s cutting-edge scheme could give him an edge in the third cornerback battle early on. And at the very least, his special teams value should make his roster spot pretty safe.

Igbinoghene is a bit of a wild card. With just 17 career starts in six seasons, he hasn’t come close to living up to his status as a former first-round draft pick. But Macdonald has repeatedly shown an ability to maximize talent, so perhaps Seattle is where Igbinoghene finally clicks.

Rookie seventh-round pick Andre Fuller also could make a strong push for a roster spot, but he lands just on the other side of the roster bubble in this projection.

Specialists (3)

• K Jason Myers
• P Michael Dickson
• LS Chris Stoll

Myers is set for his eighth season as Seattle’s kicker, Dickson is slated for his ninth season as the team’s punter and Stoll is entering his fourth season as the Seahawks’ long snapper.

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