It was a year to remember for Drake Thomas, and now the linebacker has cashed in on his stellar 2025 season.
The NFL offseason is in full swing as the Seattle Seahawks are working to retain their Super Bowl title.
With free agency set to begin, Mike Macdonald's team is going to go through some key changes on the field, with a host of free agents set to test the market.
The most notable players are Kenneth Walker, Boye Mafe, and Rashid Shaheed, but this is also a time when free agents can look at their futures, and when the franchise can tie down players to new contracts.
And this is exactly what the Seahawks have done with linebacker Drake Thomas.
Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Seahawks have agreed to a two-year, $8 million deal with Thomas, which could rise to $9 million after his stellar 2025 season.
Thomas, in his third year with Seattle, played all 17 regular-season games (started 14) and managed 3.5 sacks, easily a career-high. He also played and started in all three of Seattle's playoff games.
Not only that, but he produced six quarterback hits and 10 tackles for loss as a key piece of Macdonald's defense.
And now, his future for the next couple of seasons is finalized as the Seahawks look to retain a host of players from their Super Bowl-winning defense.
In his first two seasons, Thomas was a bit-part player, appearing in only seven games in his rookie season. He would then follow that up with 17 appearances (no starts) in Macdonald's first season, before exploding in 2025.
With a young, key piece of the defense now locked away, general manager John Schneider and the front office will look to retain some defensive free agents who could get a serious payday on the open market.
Coby Bryant, Dareke Young, Josh Jobe, Kenneth Walker III, Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen, Rashid Shaheed, and Chazz Surratt are all set to become a big focus over the coming days, and it is going to be interesting to see who the Seahawks keep and who they don't.
But one player who isn't going anywhere is Thomas, who was rewarded for his breakout season as an integral part of the Seahawks' dominant defense that powered Seattle to a Super Bowl win.