The Seahawks said goodbye to several key players, but is the roster built to cover them?
For most, the Seattle Seahawks' offseason plans have gone exactly how they thought they would go.
After winning the Super Bowl, the Seahawks saw a host of key players depart in free agency for big money, leaving Mike Macdonald and his team to fill holes in a roster that most still think is one of the better units in football.
With Kenneth Walker, Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen, and Coby Bryant all moving on, you would be forgiven for thinking the Seahawks are now in a big of trouble.
But the running back room still has some nice pieces with Zach Charbonnet, Emanuel Wilson, and George Holani.
No, they won't scare defenses, but they aren't scrubs either.
As far as the secondary, Josh Jobe, Devin Witherspoon, and Nick Emmanwori are still on the roster, so the cupboard isn't exactly bare.
Offensively, perhaps the biggest area of concern is the change in coordinator.
Klint Kubiak is out, and Brian Fleury is in. How will that impact the offense's production?
But Sports Illustrated's Gilberto Manzano thinks the Seahawks are built to cope with the losses.
"The Seahawks lost some key contributors in free agency, including Bryant, Kenneth Walker III, edge rusher Boye Mafe and cornerback Riq Woolen," Manzano wrote.
"However, Seattle can withstand these losses because the tandem of coach Mike Macdonald and GM John Schneider has been successful at building depth across the roster."
So the Seahawks are banking on the environment already in place, coupled with Macdonald's vision for his team, to keep them afloat.
Is that enough?
The internal development of the roster also has to be factored in here.
Will Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba be as good as they were last year?
Common sense states that the defense at least has to be a little worse, given the outgoings, right? The same could be said for the run game.
But is Macdonald's team built to withstand that? Manzano thinks so, and Seattle, after winning the Super Bowl last season, has earned the right to show what it's made of in 2026 before we jump to conclusions.
We're about to see if Macdonald can keep pushing this team forward after reaching the dizzying heights of last season.