The Seahawks chose to let key players leave without replacing them with outside free agents, which hasn't landed well with some people.
As Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was hoisting the Lombardi Trophy after slaying the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, he knew his roster would drastically change.
With several free agents set to hit the market, Seattle likely knew it couldn't keep all of them.
Kenneth Walker, Riq Woolen, Boye Mafe, and Coby Bryant all left, and the Seahawks haven't replaced any of them with quality, outside free agents.
Prioritizing players already on the roster, Seattle signed Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a monster new deal, making him the highest-paid receiver in football.
Oh, and corner Devon Witherspoon is due an extension soon as well, likely to be a market-setting one.
So the Seahawks' plan is clear. Allowing those select players to walk gave them the financial freedom to re-sign JSN, and likely Witherspoon as well.
It makes sense. But the Seahawks still have $33 million in cap space, so it isn't like they are tight for money.
Still, ESPN's Ben Solak isn't a fan of how many players walked in free agency.
“Just how much talent left the building,” Solak wrote. “The Seahawks had five major rising free agents in my eyes. The only one they were able to retain was Shaheed. A couple of them, Mafe and Woolen, were always going to leave for more playing time on other rosters.
"But Walker's 2025 breakout was real, and Seattle will miss his explosiveness. Bryant was a key cog in that secondary, and his contract in Chicago is very reasonable.
“It's just hard to watch that much talent end up elsewhere.”
So while it wasn't ideal to see four key players of the Super Bowl run walk out the door, Seattle knew this was always going to be a possibility.
And what doesn't work in the Seahawks' favor is that the franchise has only four draft picks to replenish its stock.
But as we know, roster changes happen every year, and they give younger players a chance to prove themselves.
Likely relying on internal development to push them towards another Super Bowl, the Seahawks are still a well-rounded roster under Macdonald.
They just don't have the star power they did last season.