‘I’m a Seahawk, Damnit’: Could John Benton Stick Around Post-Super Bowl With Young O-Line Nucleus?

Live from the Super Bowl, Seahawks offensive line coach John Benton discusses how Grey Zabel and Jalen Sundell’s FCS playoff experience has been a huge boon for them in the playoffs, when he knew that Sundell had what it took to be a starting center in the NFL, the growth of Anthony Bradford in his third season, and more!

SAN JOSE, Calif. - With Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak expected to take the Las Vegas Raiders vacant head coaching job, it has been widely speculated that the play caller will bring offensive line coach John Benton along with him to the Sin City.

But with such decisions not to be made until after Super Bowl LX on Sunday, even considering his previous connections working with Kubiak both in New Orleans and Seattle as well as coaching under Kubiak’s father Gary in Houston, Benton staying put in the Pacific Northwest should not be ruled out.

Speaking with the Emerald City Spectrum during Thursday’s media scramble at the San Jose Convention Center, when asked about whether or not he could provide an answer on the possibility of following Kubiak to Las Vegas on the heels of speaking glowingly about his current offensive line group, Benton emphatically responded, “I’m a Seahawk, damnit!”

Now, on the coach speak index, Benton’s words should not be parsed as confirmation he will remain with the Seahawks after this weekend. After all, he left the door open for a departure by not following up his statement with something along the lines of “beyond this season,” as he certainly could have just been stating the fact he serves as the offensive line coach right now and through Sunday.

However, the well-traveled Benton has always been a straight shooter, dating back to his time in the college ranks at Colorado State before jumping into the league with the then-St. Louis Rams followed by stops with seven other NFL teams. And hearing him gush on Thursday about Seattle’s youthful offensive line - which he helped dramatically improve across the board from a clear weakness into an unexpected strength - heading into the fourth Super Bowl in franchise history, he didn’t sound like a coach who has interest in picking everything up and moving again.

First and foremost, after bouncing around with the Jets and Saints prior to landing in the Emerald City and working with offensive lines that had major question marks at the bookend positions, Benton inherited two experienced, yet still young tackles in Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas. Both players elevated their games to new levels under his tutelage, with the smooth-footed Cross allowing just two sacks in 14 regular season starts and the physical, cowboy collar-sporting Lucas excelled in his own right as a pass blocker along with being a key cog in a revitalized run game that finished 10th in the NFL.

Both players have received lucrative contract extensions since the start of the season, with Cross recently dotting the line for a four-year, $104.4 million deal as a top-five paid left tackle and Lucas inking a three-year, $46 million extension days before the opener in September, ensuring the Seahawks would have each of them locked up for the foreseeable future as foundational pieces for the best line the franchise has had since the days of Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson in the mid-2000s.

“That’s outstanding. Two really quality human beings aside from being football players,” Benton said of Cross and Lucas, adding that he has bonded with the latter through their love of Judas Priest and metal music. “I think we have a chance to be a really good unit for a long time because of that.”

Away from Cross and Lucas being under contract together through the 2028 season, the Seahawks have two other young cornerstones in left guard Grey Zabel and center Jalen Sundell who have built off their illustrious college careers playing together at North Dakota State to quickly turn into one of the best young guard/center tandems in the NFL.

Having each participated in multiple FCS playoff runs, Benton has been blown away by how Zabel and Sundell have not only avoided hitting a late season wall, but managed to pick up their play and not be fazed at all by the limelight of the postseason. Those experiences of playing 15 or 16 games in a college season, even against what is viewed as inferior competition, helped prepare them for the rigors of playing deep into January and in this case, into February on the biggest stage.

“I'm used to the rookies coming in, even from any level, and you can tell when the college season ends,” Benton explained. “They go through a little dip, the little rookie wall. And never saw it out of Grey for sure. Wasn't here for Jalen's [rookie] year. But shoot, obviously getting experience somewhere must be it.”

Zabel, who Seattle invested the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft on, entrenched himself in the lineup as a clear-cut Day 1 starter and somehow exceeded lofty expectations. Starting all 17 games for Seattle after being the first guard selected in the first round by the Seahawks since Hutchinson, he allowed only two sacks and four hits on quarterback Sam Darnold, posting an impressive 97.5 Pass Block Efficiency Rate, per Pro Football Focus.

Serving as an athletic road grader in the run game as well, Zabel garnered PFWA All-Rookie honors, more than living up to the hype after rapidly ascending up draft boards this time a year ago with a fantastic Senior Bowl week in Mobile.

One of the best stories on a team with no shortage of overachieving underdogs on the roster, Sundell wasted little time impressing Benton, who came into the season with limited film to observe and evaluate the former undrafted signee. But his athletic talents were evident on tape and once the pads came on in training camp practices in August, the physicality and toughness matched and it became clear to the veteran assistant that the second-year pivot man had the goods to help Seattle’s offensive line as an anchor in the middle.

While Sundell spent four games on injured reserve with a knee injury in the middle of the season, he shined in 13 starts as a full-time starter for the first time in his young career, not giving up a single sack and only 11 pressures in pass protection. He also keyed a late-season surge where the Seahawks averaged north of 170 rushing yards per game from Week 16 through the Divisional Round in the playoffs, regularly dishing out blocks at the second level to spring Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.

With three years - and four counting a fifth-year option - of club control still on his rookie contract, Zabel will have the opportunity to keep growing with Cross and Lucas. Meanwhile, Sundell won’t be a restricted free agent until 2027, meaning he remains under affordable club control for at least one more season, providing two more reasons for Benton to be excited about Seattle’s future in the trenches.

“They've both been very critical all the way through,” Benton commented. Grey just exceeded expectations as a rookie. And Jalen, really, I didn't know a whole bunch. I saw he played some last year in spot situations and whatnot, but it kind of jumped off the tape a lot due to the scheme we like running the outside zone. He's got a lot of really good attributes. So he just kind of took the bull by the horns and ran with it and hadn't looked back.”

If there’s a position that remains in question beyond Sunday, third-year right guard Anthony Bradford has been much-maligned over the course of his career for inconsistent play. With only one year left on his rookie contract, the jury remains out on whether or not the Seahawks would consider extending him a new contract.

However, Benton seems more than interested in keeping the entire band together if possible, lauding the 25-year-old Bradford for his work ethic and the incremental improvements he made throughout the 2025 season. As a clear indicator of how much better he played in his third year with Seattle, he allowed just one sack in the final 10 regular season games, and he cut his penalties from 10 in 2024 down to just four in 17 starts, showcasing improved discipline and technique.

“I’m really proud of him,” Benton smiled. “He's found a way to get better every game. If you watch, it's interesting. Everyone brings up his sacks, but he's probably one of our best pocket integrity protectors up there. Like, no one can bull rush him. And so from that standpoint, he's always been important to us, but then just his work ethic throughout the year and his dedication to craft and putting in the time. He's just gotten better and better and I think he sees some of the success too.”

Whether the Seahawks defeat the Patriots on Sunday or not, Benton surely will have a tough decision to make coming out of Super Bowl LX. On one hand, Kubiak hand picked him as his offensive line coach in New Orleans and brought him along for the ride to Seattle as a priority assistant, and the 62-year-old may feel that he owes his friend by joining him in Las Vegas to take on an even bigger reclamation project for a three-win Raiders squad. If he decides to go that route, nobody should be surprised at all.

But at the same time, Benton has bounced around a lot since spending four seasons with the 49ers from 2017 to 2020. At this stage of his career, the allure of keeping his feet where they sit in the present and running it back with the Seahawks boasting arguably the best young offensive line in the league with cornerstones in Cross, Zabel, and Lucas would be incredibly difficult to pass up, especially with four of the team’s five current starters under contract for multiple seasons.

Who knows what Benton ultimately will decide to do come next week. With a focus on Sunday’s game, he isn’t worrying about that situation right now, only concerned with the fact he’s the Seahawks offensive line coach right now. Listening carefully to his words on Thursday, though, it’s far from a given that he will immediately jump ship to dock with Kubiak and the Raiders.