The Seahawks lost a handful of key players in free agency and didn't replace them, leaving many wondering how the franchise will be able to cover those losses.
The Seattle Seahawks will be a fascinating watch in 2026 for a host of reasons.
Mainly because, as the defending Super Bowl champion, you have become the hunted. Getting every team's best shot week in, week out.
Granted, Mike Macdonald's team is built to withstand that sort of punishment...well, it used to be.
The early wave of free agency saw the Seahawks' Super Bowl-winning roster be plucked, and a handful of key players signed elsewhere.
That is the nature of the job, and now Macdonald and his staff will be tasked with filling those roster holes either by signing bargain free agents or using the four draft picks they currently have.
For a team defending its Super Bowl crown, Seattle hasn't exactly done its best to maintain the rage this offseason.
And for NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha, he wonders how the Seahawks will cope with losing a host of key players this offseason.
"The Seahawks knew they were going to face some attrition after winning last year's Super Bowl," Chadiha wrote. "That's why it shouldn't be surprising to see some of the hits they've taken thus far.
"The Seahawks proved last season that their team chemistry was a major factor in their overall success. Maintaining that will be much harder now, especially when any little weakness can be problematic in the ultracompetitive NFC West."
The big thing here is that the Seahawks have gotten weaker, but their competition has gotten stronger.
The San Francisco 49ers added Mike Evans, and you can nearly bet they won't be as injury-plagued as last season.
The Los Angeles Rams have gone all the way in on 2026, getting Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to bolster the secondary. Matthew Stafford and the offense again look elite.
And as for the Arizona Cardinals, well, they are in a rebuilding mode in 2026.
But the NFC West, you could make the case, as three elite teams in the entire conference.
General manager John Schneider has earned the benefit of the doubt, given his track record, and Macdonald is fresh off a Super Bowl win in Year 2 of his tenure.
But how this franchise deals not only with the success it had last season but also with the losses in free agency will be a key watch as the year unfolds.