Analysis: Expect Multiplicity as Seahawks Try to Replace Nick Emmanwori in Season Opener
Now just two days away from their season opener, while the team will not make final designations until Tuesday, the odds of Nick Emmanwori being available for the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday night remain iffy at best.
Emmanwori, who underwent ankle surgery days before the start of training camp, has been gradually ramping up activity on the field since being activated from the PUP list in mid-August. This week, he has taken another positive step forward practicing with a helmet on and partaking in more individual drills, but that may not be enough to warrant rushing him back into the lineup for the opener.
Still, as expected given the fact the team doesn’t have to announce anything until Tuesday, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald kept the door open with a coy response on Emmanwori’s status after Monday’s practice.
“Nick had his most work over the last couple of days, looks great, and he practiced limited today,” Macdonald said with a subtle smirk on his face, providing a minimal update.
Until Emmanwori has been officially ruled out, there’s always an outside shot that the second-year safety manages to suit up for Seattle. But with him still not practicing in full after missing all of training camp and the preseason, signs continue to point to the team being cautious with a long season ahead, hoping to potentially have him return in Week 2 against the Cardinals when he has had another full week of practice under his belt.
Noah Igbinoghene Among Several Ex-Seahawks to Land With New Teams
While the NFL institutes a hard deadline for teams to get their rosters down to 53 players after the conclusion of the preseason, the churning of rosters across the league continues for several days leading up to Week 1.
For Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider, making as many transactions as possible post-cutdown day has been a source of pride for the organization, as he believes it to be an integral part of building the best roster and practice squad possible. As rules have changed, so has the strategy for the reigning Executive of the Year, including leaning in on the ability to place as many as six vested veterans with four or more years of experience on the practice squad, allowing the team to protect more of their talented young players from the waiver wire as a result.
On that front, the Seahawks terminated the contracts of eight veterans as part of Sunday’s roster bludgeoning, including cornerback Trevon Diggs, safety D’Anthony Bell, and running back Velus Jones Jr., hoping to retain as many of those players who weren’t exposed to waivers as possible either on the practice squad or re-signing to the active roster.
“Having the six veterans on the practice squad has enabled us to not expose certain players to the waiver wire. And yeah, it's a strategy for the initial 53 cut,” Schneider explained after Sunday’s initial cuts. “And then as well as what we're going to look like in the middle of October and then trying to be as strong as we possibly can and as deep as we possibly can with a combination of older and younger players down the stretch, end of November, December, January, hopefully February.”
Cutdown Takeaways: Montorie Foster Jr. Among Seahawks to Earn Spot on Initial 53-Man Roster
Fielding questions at the podium mere minutes after the Seattle Seahawks announced their final roster cuts on Sunday, general manager John Schneider caught himself mid-answer and hesitated for a split second.
In the midst of discussing second-year receiver Montorie Foster Jr.’s surprising ascendance to earn a place on the final 53-man roster, Schneider decided to choose his words more carefully, not wanting to live in absolutes thinking back to the many players who have come and gone through Seattle’s facility since his arrival in 2010. But after a moment to gather his thoughts, he wielded the type of praise worthy of the former Michigan State standout’s unexpected rise this summer during training camp and the preseason, comparing his performance to the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.
“I've never seen a player - I don't know how I say that. It's hard to remember a player at the receiver position that's improved as quickly as he has,” Schneider gushed. “I told Jax [Smith-Njigba], I felt like he like just took his film and just completely studied it or just followed him around for all spring or something.”
This time a year ago, Foster found himself back in Ohio without a team after the Seahawks released him with an injury designation early in his first training camp, preparing to begin substitute teaching at a nearby high school and not anywhere close to being in the same breath as Smith-Njigba or any other receiver for that matter. While he continued to train in preparation for his next opportunity, he also applied for a real estate license, doing his due diligence readying for life after football even as he remained confident he would get another shot between the lines.
Sure enough, the Seahawks came calling in late December, offering Foster a spot on the practice squad. He quickly hopped on a flight to Seattle, spending the last two weeks of the regular season and the entirety of the team’s historic playoff run on what coach Mike Macdonald calls the “ready” squad, earning a Super Bowl ring and a future/reserve deal days later.
Analysis: What Do ‘Tough’ Bud Clark, Mason Richman Injuries Mean for Seahawks?
While a loss in preseason play isn’t the end of the world, the Seattle Seahawks didn’t just lose on the scoreboard in a 19-16 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, as the injury bug took a significant toll on the roster over the span of three-plus days in Nashville.
Beginning the string of bad luck on Seattle’s first road trip of the new season, receiver Jake Bobo suffered a severe knee injury during a joint practice on Friday, landing awkwardly as he tried to gather a contested catch against a linebacker in coverage before being carted off the field. Just two days later, the misfortune continued for the defending Super Bowl champions, as lightning struck twice in the opening quarter at Nissan Stadium with rookie safety Bud Clark and second-year offensive lineman Mason Richman leaving the field with significant injuries of their own.
After Tennessee managed to steal the win late on Sunday night, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald painted a bleak picture for both Clark and Richman, providing more specifics on the former than the latter with the information at hand.
“We had two really tough injuries today,” Macdonald stated. “Bud has a broken ankle to my knowledge. Severity I'm not sure, but he's going to be out multiple months. We're going to try to figure out what's going on with Mason, but we also think that's a major injury, a long-term injury. Two guys that we love, that play our style of ball, that are our type of guys. Teammates love them. Great teammates, great guys, great football players. They have great futures. It's a really - it's a heartbreaker, honestly. We had three heartbreakers this week, which is tough.”
Rapid Reaction: Seahawks Start Hot vs. Titans’ Starters, Fall 19-16 in Preseason Road Tilt
In the aftermath of a 17-7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys to begin exhibition season, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald issued a challenge to both his players and coaches, sharing his unhappiness about the team’s “process” in all three phases.
While the final result didn’t go as planned, it appears everyone in the locker room received the message this week on the practice field and in the film room, as Drew Lock and the Seahawks bounced back nicely with 16 first quarter points for a fast start on the road against the Titans before losing their lead late in a 19-16 loss at Nissan Stadium.
Lock played a near-flawless game under center, completing 12 out of 14 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown pass to Elijah Arroyo, while running back Jacardia Wright paced the rushing attack with 81 yards on eight carries. Defensively, Connor O’Toole led a resurgent pass rush, tallying 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits, and two tackles for loss to help keep the Titans out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter.
Camp Takeaways: Seahawks Keeping Options Open at Cornerback, Including Interest in Terrion Arnold
Now entering the third week of training camp, as competitions continue to heat up in the secondary, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald isn’t interested in naming a third cornerback just yet.
And with the preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys approaching just five days away, there may or may not be a newcomer jumping into that mix in the near future.
Speaking with reporters after Monday’s 14th padded camp practice, Macdonald didn’t shoot down Seattle’s reported interest in ex-Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold, confirming the Seahawks had him in the facility for a tryout on Sunday. The former first round pick faces eight felony charges in Florida stemming from a kidnapping and robbery incident in February, but that hasn’t stopped the organization from doing their due diligence checking up on a talented player.
“We had him in for a great visit, a great tryout,” Macdonald said. “It’s a situation where there’s some other things surrounding it as well, but we’re working through the situation right now. It was a really great visit and I really enjoyed meeting him and I think he enjoyed being here, so we’ll see where it goes.”
Coming Off Playoff Detour, D’Anthony Bell Blessed to Return to Seahawks With Super Bowl Ring
Under the vast majority of circumstances, having outstanding depth at a position on an NFL roster should be seen as a good problem to have.
But as D’Anthony Bell and the Seattle Seahawks learned last December, having too many good safeties on their roster ended up coming back to bite them with the playoffs right on the doorstep. Facing a numbers game with injuries and roster needs that had to be addressed at other positions, the team waived him just before the new year on December 30, believing he would be able to slip through waivers and return as a member of the practice squad with hopes of getting him back on the roster down the line.
However, the Carolina Panthers decided to throw a wrench in those plans. In the hunt for a playoff berth of their own and familiar with Bell after facing him in Week 16, they put in a claim for the veteran defender once he hit the waiver wire and wound up adding him to their roster for the final two weeks of the regular season.
In the aftermath of the unexpected claim, Bell didn’t suit up for either of Carolina’s final two games, making his lone appearance in a Panthers uniform in a wild card round loss to the Rams with 13 special teams snaps. Meanwhile, his former team notched the No. 1 seed and eventually the Seahawks won Super Bowl LX, bringing home the Lombardi Trophy for just the second time in franchise history.
Camp Takeaways: Rookie DBs Dazzle as Seahawks’ 2026 Draft Class Continues to Shine
The pads won’t start popping until later this week, providing a major caveat that encompasses any evaluations from four non-contact July practices. But heading into the first day off at training camp, the Seattle Seahawks continue to receive encouraging initial returns from their latest draft class.
The center of attention as Seattle’s top selection, Jadarian Price caught his second touchdown in as many days, this time hauling in a 30-yard wheel route from Jalen Milroe for six points and drawing an avalanche of cheers from the sellout crowd on the berm at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. As has been the case throughout camp thus far, the first round running back has seemingly been force fed in the passing game by new coordinator Brian Fleury, catching passes everywhere from the flats to down the sideline on deep patterns coming out of the backfield.
But while all eyes remained fixated on Price, and understandably so as a top-32 selection tabbed to succeed Super Bowl MVP Ken Walker III, it was two of the four defensive backs drafted by John Schneider in April who stole the show in Tuesday’s session with splashy plays on the back end of Mike Macdonald’s defense.
Training Camp Preview: Who Will Win Seahawks Looming Positional Battles?
Opening up training camp as the defending Super Bowl champion, the Seattle Seahawks will have the vast majority of their roster back for their title defense in 2026 after losing only five players in free agency, leaving few question marks in the starting lineup on offense, defense, and special teams rolling into a new year.
But while their roster didn’t undergo near as much turnover as most Super Bowl champs do and most of the starters from last year’s squad remain under contract, with a new eight-player draft class in tow and a handful of veteran additions brought onboard to bolster depth in free agency, the Seahawks still have plenty of positional battles set to play out over the next six weeks and change. This includes the search for a new starting running back along with the need for a new gunner to emerge on punt coverage to replace long-time special teams standout Dareke Young.
With camp set to kick off on July 25, which roster battles stand out as Seattle’s most intriguing? And how will each of them play out over the course of training camp and the preseason?
Ranking Seahawks: Emmanuel Henderson Jr. Aims to Impress With Elite Speed, Special Teams Traits Atop No. 55-51
With the calendar recently flipping to July and offseason workouts wrapped up league-wide for the summer, the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks will soon descend upon the Virginia Mason Athletic Center for the start of training camp, kicking off a much-anticipated 2026 season.
To celebrate the new incoming season, I will be ranking every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks leading up to report day, providing detailed profiles, exploring best and worst case scenarios, and breaking down what to expect from each player entering the 2026 campaign.
Continuing with No. 55-51 on my annual rankings, a dynamic rookie receiver hopes to cut his teeth on special teams as he did at the college level, while three veterans entering the final year of their contract will face pressure to stick on the 53.
WATCH: Defense Dominates Red Zone-Heavy Day 3 of Seahawks Minicamp
Bringing the offseason program to an end and ushering in summer break before training camp, Emerald City Spectrum reporter Corbin Smith breaks down what he saw and heard at the Seahawks' third and final mandatory minicamp practice, including an opportunistic defense racking up interceptions and pick sixes in a high energy session at the VMAC.
Three-Year Outlook: Seahawks Face a Few Pressing Questions on Defense Beyond 2026
As the calendar flips to April and the 2026 NFL Draft rapidly approaches, the Seattle Seahawks find themselves in the heat of the offseason, continuing to look into ways to improve their roster scanning the free agent market along with wrapping up draft evaluations while also exploring extensions to retain several of their top players.
While building the best roster for the upcoming season remains the top goal with eyes on defending their Super Bowl title, Seahawks general manager John Schneider also has to be cognizant of the future, making every decision in regard to free agency, extensions, and the draft with a multi-year window in mind.
Now less than a month away from the draft, how does Seattle’s defense look for both the present and the future?
Ready to Defend Title, Seahawks ‘Cognizant’ of Lessons Learned From Previous Super Bowl Runs
Every season in the NFL is unique by nature thanks to free agency and the draft ensuring substantial roster turnover across the league, and while the Seattle Seahawks only lost five players in free agency off of their Super Bowl LX winning squad, they won’t be an exception to the rule with several newcomers coming on board as they begin their title defense.
With that said, though the vibes will undoubtedly be a bit different in 2026 regardless of the continuity on the roster, that doesn’t mean that the effects of playing into February and hoisting the Lombardi Trophy won’t have an impact on the upcoming season either. Fortunately for general manager John Schneider, this isn’t his first rodeo coming off of a Super Bowl run, and he’s eager to take advantage of the multitude of lessons learned from the last time the Seahawks made the big game in back to back seasons in 2014 and 2015.
Speaking with reporters at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix, leaning on his first-hand experience from those prior Super Bowl runs, Schneider indicated that there’s a lot of factors Seattle must be “cognizant” of after playing deep into February that go well beyond building the roster and coaching staff.
Seahawks Banking on Noah Igbinoghene, Free Agent Signings to Help ‘Refill’ Post-Super Bowl Holes
Winning the Super Bowl comes with a heavy price, as other NFL teams covet signing players from the defending champions once free agency opens a few short weeks after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, and the Seattle Seahawks were no exception to the rule this offseason.
In the early stages of free agency, also known as the legal tampering period, Super Bowl LX MVP Ken Walker III bolted for Kansas City to pair up with Patrick Mahomes in the Chiefs’ backfield on a record-setting contract for a running back. Hours later, safety Coby Bryant netted a mega deal from the Bears and outside linebacker Boye Mafe landed a $60 million deal from the Bengals. The following day, former Pro Bowl cornerback Riq Woolen took his talents to Philadelphia on a one-year deal with the Eagles.
Unfortunately, as coach Mike Macdonald acknowledged, losing talented players comes with the territory after winning the NFL’s ultimate prize. But with Schneider at the controls, he believes the Seahawks have done a fine job of keeping most of the band together and even with former starters such as Walker and Bryant departing, the team has “refilled” most of those losses in free agency.
Seahawks Wisely Slow Played Free Agency With 2026 NFL Draft Class in Mind
Moments after the NFL’s legal tampering period opened on March 9, Seattle Seahawks fans quickly experienced the downside of bringing home the Lombardi Trophy, as Super Bowl MVP Ken Walker III started the festivities by securing a record-setting three-year, $43 million free agent contract from the Kansas City Chiefs.
Less than an hour later, the Seahawks suffered another significant loss from the Super Bowl tax as safety Coby Bryant bolted for another NFC contender, signing a three-year, $40 million deal with the Chicago Bears. Not long after, outside linebacker Boye Mafe cashed in as well, inking a three-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals worth $20 million per season. One day later, cornerback Riq Woolen joined the exodus, taking his talents to Philadelphia on a one-year deal worth up to $15 million. Before free agency even had officially began, four former starters had flew the nest for lucrative big money contracts elsewhere.
For many fans who hoped to see the team run it back, it may have felt like the rest of the NFL had quickly descended on the defending champions like vultures zeroing in on deceased prey and gradually started picking away from the carcass.
Seahawks’ Secondary Injuries Put ‘Next Man Up’ Mantra to Ultimate Test
Prior to the season, Mike Macdonald lauded the Seahawks depth at cornerback and safety. But as the injuries continue to pile up, that depth will be further challenged against an upstart Jaguars squad on Sunday.
Reinforcements Coming as Seahawks Hit Road to Face Cardinals on Thursday Night Football
While the Seahawks will be much closer to full strength in the secondary against Kyler Murray and company, the offense will be missing at least one starter for the key NFC West clash on Thursday Night Football against the Cardinals.
‘Strength of the 70’: Deep Seahawks Not Missing a Beat Amid Win Streak
Maximizing on their opportunities to acquire and develop talent through multiple avenues, the Seahawks’ embracing of the 70-man roster paid major dividends in back-to-back wins, and such depth could be a key in taking the next step back towards contender status.
Closing Thoughts: Seahawks Ambush Saints Early, Coast to 31-Point Win at Lumen Field
Leading to 30 points with their efforts, special teams told the story as the Seahawks blew out the Saints for a much-needed home victory.
Seahawks Add Jaxon Smith-Njigba to Injury Report Amid Flurry of Week 3 Moves
Already with four starters listed as doubtful to play against the Saints, the Seahawks now could be without their dynamic No. 1 receiver on Sunday.
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