Seahawks 'Kingdom' Key Reason For DeMarcus Lawrence Returning In 2026

The 2025 season for Seattle Seahawks defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence saw him finally reach the pinnacle in the NFL, winning the Super Bowl.

After spending 11 years with the Dallas Cowboys, Lawrence made the switch to Seattle in the offseason and was a key part of Mike Macdonald's defense.

Lawrence was play and start in 16 games, registering 6.0 sacks, 20 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss, and two fumbles returned for touchdowns.

After climbing to the summit of the NFL, some thought the veteran defensive end would hang up the cleats and ride off into the sunset.

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This was the thought for most of the offseason, but then news came through that Lawrence was coming back for a 13th year.

But why? Well, in talking with Seattle Sports' Bump and Stacy, Lawrence revealed his reasons for returning after being close to walking away.

“I was very close,” Lawrence said. “Went through a long offseason of going back and forth, am I going to retire, am I not? I think the one thing that held me steady is, it’s easy to take over a kingdom. But the hard part is when you’ve got the kingdom and now it’s time to defend it. Are you going to sit back and eat the fruits of your labor?

"Or are you going to start building up your walls and making sure everything is structurally prepared to defend it? I didn’t want to go out on an easy way. I wanted to make sure I go out on top with a bang to let the whole world know this wasn’t some facade, this was something real.”

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So, Lawrence wants to defend the title Seattle won in 2025.

That is the big reason for the veteran to return, and now, as a key part of Macdonald's "Dark Side" defense, he will look to improve on what was a rather consistent season.

Even at 33 years old, Lawrence played 59 percent of the snaps for Macdonald last season, so time will tell if he can handle that sort of workload again, but being a Super Bowl champ will give you extra incentive to go that extra mile.

With Seattle almost being an afterthought in the Super Bowl race thanks to the Los Angeles Rams' moves this offseason, the defending champs have gone a little under the radar, but I'd imagine they're just fine with that.

And as training camp begins, Lawrence has one thought in mind -- defend the kingdom.