The cases for and against re-signing Seahawks’ pending FAs

The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks enter the offseason with a half-dozen starting-caliber players who are set to become free agents when the NFL’s new league year officially begins on March 11: running back Kenneth Walker III, wide receiver/returner Rashid Shaheed, safety Coby Bryant, edge rusher Boye Mafe, cornerback Riq Woolen and cornerback Josh Jobe.

And simply put, the Seahawks can’t afford to keep them all.

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While Seattle currently has the sixth-most salary cap space in the NFL at approximately $59.5 million, according to Over the Cap, a significant chunk of that is expected to go toward long-term contract extensions for star 2023 first-round draft picks Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon.

So, with free agency just around the corner, the Seahawks have some big decisions to make. Here’s a look at various contract projections for what each of the aforementioned six pending free agents could receive on the open market, along with some arguments for and against Seattle re-signing them.

Note: For contract projections, AAV refers to average annual value.

RB Kenneth Walker III

The Athletic: $13M AAV (4 yr., $52M)
Spotrac: $9M AAV (4 yr., $36M)
Pro Football Focus: $9M AAV (3 yr., $27M)

Fresh off a Super Bowl MVP performance, Walker is the most high-profile offseason decision facing the Seahawks.

On one hand, Walker may only be scratching the surface of his potential. With explosive speed and ankle-breaking elusiveness, the former second-round pick has always had elite talent. But now, after being known as a boom-or-bust back for much of his first four seasons, he turned a corner over the second half of 2025 by meshing that elite talent with more play-to-play consistency.

It resulted in the best stretch of his career. Over Seattle’s final six games from Week 16 through the Super Bowl, Walker totaled 771 yards from scrimmage, 5.2 yards per carry and five touchdowns. According to FTN Fantasy, he also finished with a league-best 33.6% avoided tackle rate across both the regular season and postseason, which underscores what a special playmaker he can be. If the Seahawks don’t re-sign Walker, there’s a very real chance they’d be moving on from a budding star right as he’s hitting his prime.

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On the flip side, though, Walker’s value has never been higher, which means his price tag may soar beyond Seattle’s comfort zone. There’s also the fact that running backs, in recent years, have typically been viewed as more replaceable than other positions. ESPN has only one running back ranked among its top 70 prospects in this year’s draft class, but nine ranked between Nos. 71-150, so that could be an option if the Seahawks don’t re-sign Walker.

Another factor to consider is Walker’s injury history. Though Walker stayed healthy and played all 20 games this past season, he missed a combined 10 games due to various injuries over his first three seasons. Also, with backfield mate Zach Charbonnet recovering from a torn ACL and expected to miss a considerable chunk of 2026, will that impact what Seattle does with Walker?

There are a lot of variables to weigh. In short, it seems highly unlikely the Seahawks could find a cheaper option who’s as talented as Walker. The question is how much they’re willing to pay him, and how much of a potential drop-off in talent they’d be willing to accept.

WR/KR/PR Rashid Shaheed

Spotrac: $14.1M AAV (3 yr., $42.4M)
PFF: $14M AAV (3 yr., $42M)
The Athletic: $13M AAV (3 yr., $39M)

After arriving in a 2025 trade-deadline deal, the speedy Shaheed was a game-changer on special teams with two punt return touchdowns and a kick return score. And while he didn’t put up big stats as a receiver, he served as a field-stretching vertical threat that contributed to Seattle’s rushing attack facing lighter boxes down the stretch.

That being said, Shaheed totaled just 18 catches for 266 yards across 12 regular-season and postseason games for the Seahawks. As valuable as he was on special teams, Seattle would probably need more production from him as a receiver to warrant a $13-14 million per-year price tag.

Another factor to consider: The Seahawks already have a speedy receiver/returner in Tory Horton, who had five touchdown catches and a punt return TD as a rookie last fall before suffering a season-ending shin injury in Week 9. However, durability could be a question with Horton, who also had a season-ending knee injury in 2024 at Colorado State. Veteran wideout Cooper Kupp, who’s set to enter his age-33 season, has also carried some durability concerns in recent years, even if he did stay healthy in 2025.

So regardless, wide receiver seems like a position group the Seahawks will add to this offseason. It’s just a question of whether that’ll be through re-signing Shaheed, signing an external free agent or addressing the position in the draft. The 2026 draft class appears to be well-stocked with receiving talent, as ESPN has 18 wide receivers ranked among its top 100 prospects.

S Coby Bryant

Spotrac: $14.3M AAV (2 yr., $28.6M)
PFF: $10M AAV (3 yr., $30M)
The Athletic: $10M AAV (3 yr., $30M)

After starting his career at cornerback, Bryant has excelled as a playmaking safety since changing positions in 2024. Over the past two seasons, he’s filled the stat sheet with seven interceptions, a pick-six, 13 pass breakups, five tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.

With his multi-position background, Bryant’s versatility has been a great fit for head coach Mike Macdonald’s cutting-edge defense. And with Bryant still being relatively new to safety, he’s another player who might still be scratching the surface of his potential.

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However, Macdonald has consistently shown an ability to turn unheralded defensive players into quality contributors. And that’s exactly what he did with backup safety Ty Okada, who totaled an interception, six pass breakups, 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss this past season while making 11 fill-in starts due to injuries.

So, while there’s a difference in talent level between Bryant and Okada, perhaps the Seahawks could view this as an optimum area to save money and cap space.

EDGE Boye Mafe

The Athletic: $18.25M AAV (4 yr., $73M)
PFF: $16.3M AAV (3 yr., $49M)
Spotrac: $12.2M AAV (3 yr., $36.7M)

Mafe, a 2022 second-round pick, showed big-time potential during a breakout 9.0-sack season in 2023 – which included a franchise-record seven consecutive games with a sack. He then continued that production early in 2024, recording three sacks through the first three games.

However, Mafe’s sack numbers have slowed down dramatically ever since a toe injury that sidelined him for Weeks 4 and 5 of 2024. Since that point, he’s totaled just 5.0 sacks over his past 32 combined regular-season and postseason games.

Of course, sacks don’t always tell the full story. This past season, Mafe finished eighth among all edge rushers in ESPN’s pass rush win rate and ranked 38th out of 119 qualified edge rushers in Pro Football Focus run defense grading.

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Also, there’s a chance Seattle’s edge-rushing group could thin out pretty quickly. DeMarcus Lawrence still has two years left on his contract, but is heading into his age-34 season and reportedly has been considering retirement, according to ESPN’s Brady Henderson. And Uchenna Nwosu is a potential salary cap casualty, as he’s set to carry the Seahawks’ third-largest 2026 cap hit at $19.99 million, according to Over the Cap.

But still, given all the other talent Seattle is trying to keep, it simply might be too difficult to justify paying significant money for an edge rusher in Mafe who’s coming off a 2.0-sack season. Plus, there’s a good collection of edge-rushing talent in the draft, with 13 edge rushers ranked among ESPN’s top 100 prospects.

CB Riq Woolen

The Athletic: $19M AAV (4 yr., $76M)
PFF: $15M AAV (3 yr., $45M)
Spotrac: $8.2M AAV (1 yr., $8.2M)

Woolen’s up-and-down career has been defined by inconsistency. At times, he’s flashed tantalizing potential with his rare combination of length, speed and athleticism. But too often, those moments have been overshadowed by head-scratching mistakes.

Woolen’s stats illustrate that juxtaposition. Over the past four seasons combined, he’s one of just two NFL players with at least 10 interceptions and 50 pass breakups. But over that same span, he’s surrendered 15 touchdown passes, which is tied for the 15th-most in the league, according to Stathead.

Woolen’s 2025, in particular, was emblematic of his roller-coaster career.

He struggled mightily over the first month, including two costly misplays that keyed the San Francisco 49ers’ game-winning touchdown drive in Week 1. Then, with trade rumors swirling, he bounced back and played at a high level for the latter three-quarters of the regular season. But in the NFC title game, he nearly cost the Seahawks a Super Bowl berth when he extended a Los Angeles Rams drive with a taunting penalty, and then surrendered a long TD pass on the very next play.

Ultimately, that two-play NFC title game sequence seemed to put the nail in the coffin on any chance of the Seahawks signing Woolen to a long-term deal. Plus, it’s considered a good draft class for cornerbacks, with 14 ranked among ESPN’s top 100 prospects.

CB Josh Jobe

The Athletic: $10M AAV (2 yr., $20M)
Spotrac: $9.7M AAV (3 yr., $29.2M)

As a former practice squad player, Jobe’s ascent into the starting lineup has been an undeniably great story. And his play has probably been better than most realize. According to Stathead, Jobe recorded the 12th-lowest opposing completion percentage (49.5%), the 16th-fewest yards allowed per target (5.7) and the 25th-lowest opposing passer rating (77.0) among qualified cornerbacks this past season.

That was incredible value for the Seahawks, given that Jobe played on a one-year, $2 million deal in 2025. But if Jobe ends up costing $9-10 million per year going forward, would Seattle be willing to pay that much? It’ll be interesting to see, especially with the Seahawks seemingly unlikely to bring back Woolen.

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