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Brady HendersonFeb 14, 2026, 06:00 AM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Brady Henderson is a reporter for NFL Nation and covers the Seattle Seahawks for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2017 after covering the team for Seattle Sports 710-AM.<\/p>\n Multiple Authors<\/p>\n SEATTLE — Tight end AJ Barner<\/a> downed two beers as he made his way from the tunnel in the southwest corner of Lumen Field to the stage in the north end zone Wednesday morning. The Seattle Seahawks<\/a>‘ championship parade was about to begin with a trophy celebration in front of fans, but the party was already on.<\/p>\n Seventeen days earlier, moments after his team won the NFC Championship Game, coach Mike Macdonald stood on a stage in nearly the same spot and delivered a now-famous line when asked about how the Seahawks began the season as afterthoughts in their own division: “We did not care.”<\/p>\n That response would be printed on T-shirts that Barner and other players wore on the team’s flight to the Bay Area for Super Bowl LX, a week before they beat the New England Patriots<\/a> 29-13<\/a> to claim the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy.<\/p>\n So, when Barner took his turn on the microphone — wearing a fur coat, cowboy hat and sunglasses, surrounded by imbibing teammates as well as Macdonald and general manager John Schneider — he repeated his coach’s message.<\/p>\n “I’ve got a few things for y’all,” Barner said after telling the crowd that he loved Seattle. “First, we did not care. Second, we still don’t care.”<\/p>\n The sentiment behind those words was rooted in a mentality the Seahawks adopted in 2025. “M.O.B. Ties”<\/a> — as in, “Mission Over Bulls—” — was their rallying cry, alluding to both their connectedness and commitment to avoiding drama that might get in the way of winning a championship.<\/p>\n Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n But Super Bowl champions don’t get to celebrate for long. With the page turning to 2026 and a pivotal offseason already underway, can the Seahawks do it again? They have plenty of key players from what was one of the NFL’s youngest rosters signed for next year and beyond, giving them a strong starting point for a repeat run. But the Seahawks won’t keep their championship team entirely intact before they return next season with the proverbial target on their back.<\/p>\n “I think mentally is you’ve got to enjoy it now but realize that everybody’s going to want your head now, everybody’s going to want that spot, what you just felt,” said linebacker Ernest Jones IV<\/a>, who won Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams<\/a>. “I think we’ve got the right group of guys to do what we need to do to get our minds ready to reload and do it again.”<\/p>\n The Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> are the only NFL team in the past two years to repeat as champions. Jones believes the so-called “Super Bowl hangover” is a real thing — the Rams went 5-12 a year after winning it all, for instance — but he said the Seahawks’ “M.O.B” mentality will still fuel them in 2026 even after reaching the sport’s pinnacle.<\/p>\n “That’s what Mike’s created and the vision that we brought to life,” Jones said. “If you’re a part of this team, regardless of the success that we had this year, the mission next year is to win a Super Bowl, do it again.”<\/p>\n Not long after their likely real hangovers had subsided, the work started anew for Macdonald and Co., with the first order of business being to find Klint Kubiak<\/a>‘s replacement as offensive coordinator after he left to become the head coach<\/a> of the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is believed that Macdonald is likely to fill that position by promoting from within his current staff. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Wednesday that Seattle is interviewing four in-house candidates: quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, run game specialist Justin Outten, tight ends coach Mack Brown and passing game coordinator Jake Peetz.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n An internal promotion would avoid two undesirable situations — having to find Kubiak’s replacement after many of the sought-after candidates have already been hired, and forcing quarterback Sam Darnold<\/a> and the rest of the offense to start over in a new system.<\/p>\n The Seahawks should have plenty of continuity on offense, with most of the unit’s starting lineup still under contract, though running back Kenneth Walker III<\/a> — the Super Bowl LX MVP — is scheduled to be a free agent, as is wide receiver and Pro Bowl returner Rashid Shaheed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both were hugely important to Seattle’s Super Bowl run. Shaheed scored three touchdowns on special teams after arriving in a midseason trade from the New Orleans Saints<\/a>. Walker, who entered 2025 with durability concerns, played in all 20 games and carried the Seahawks’ rushing attack after Zach Charbonnet<\/a> tore his ACL in the divisional round. Charbonnet will likely be sidelined until the second half of next season, which makes Walker that much more important to re-sign.<\/p>\n But that feels far from automatic, given everyone else who’s in line to potentially get paid. Cornerback Josh Jobe<\/a> and safety Coby Bryant<\/a> are two impact starters from Macdonald’s top-ranked scoring defense who are on expiring contracts. Two other key defensive players — cornerback Riq Woolen<\/a> and outside linebacker Boye Mafe<\/a> — have positioned themselves for sizable deals that Seattle might not be able to afford.<\/p>\n Over the Cap lists the Seahawks as having more than $60 million in effective cap space for 2026, which is sixth most of any team. But some of those cap dollars, and a good chunk of their cash budget, might have to be earmarked for wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba<\/a> and cornerback Devon Witherspoon<\/a> — two star players who are eligible for massive extensions.<\/p>\n The Seahawks gave up fourth- and fifth-round picks in the Shaheed trade and are not projected to receive compensatory selections. As such, they’re slated to have only four picks — No. 32 followed by one apiece in Rounds 2, 3 and 6. That will require more shrewd drafting — and perhaps trading — by Schneider, who has built two Super Bowl-winning rosters 12 years apart.<\/p>\n Schneider will have his work cut out for him this offseason — all while the team is expected to be put up for sale. But plenty of pieces are in place for a repeat run, including Macdonald and the “M.O.B” mentality he has fostered.<\/p>\n “You’re excited because you climbed the mountain summit but … you have no more goals to reach for the year, and it’s almost like a postseason sadness of like, ‘Dang, I want to keep this thing going,'” safety Julian Love<\/a> said. “I felt that right after the game — ‘I can’t believe we’re done.’ I love looking at a goal, the next target, the next helmet on the spire or whatever you call it.”<\/p>\n Get ready for the NFL offseason \u2022 Every team’s offseason guide<\/a> | Schedule<\/a> Love was referring to how the Seahawks would hang the helmet of every opponent they beat this season on a pole in the auditorium at team headquarters. It was a visual representation of one of Macdonald’s go-to sayings about stacking wins.<\/p>\nAP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/p>\n
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