The Super Bowl champion Seahawks nearly earned straight A’s.
Close, but not quite.
The NFL Players Association survey results and grades became public on Thursday, via a report from ESPN and the Seahawks ranked fourth overall in the league across all categories voted upon by the players.
Miami was No. 1, followed by Minnesota, Washington and the Seahawks rounding out the top four. It was a major uptick for the Seahawks after ranking 15th last season and 14th in 2024.
The NFLPA is not making the report cards public this year after a grievance was filed by the NFL claiming the release violated the collective bargaining agreement.
But ESPN acquired the results — as did other outlets — and the Seahawks graded out as one of the elite teams in the league across the board.
The survey was based on responses from 1,759 players.
Seattle earned an A-plus, A or A-minus in 14 of the 17 categories, including team ownership headed by chair Jody Allen, head coach Mike Macdonald, general manager John Schneider, nutritionist/dietitian, training staff, strength coaches, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh. The one A-plus the Seahawks received was for defensive coordinator Aden Durde.
The Seahawks received an A-minus rankings for food/dining area, weight room, position coaches and team travel.
The outlier on Seattle’s report card was the grade for their home game field. The playing surface at Lumen Field received an F, which fell in line with the rankings for most stadiums across the league that use an artificial surface. Of the teams that play on a turf field, Seattle, Tennessee, Carolina, Buffalo, Cincinnati, New England, Indianapolis and both New York teams all received F or D grades. F-minus grades were given to the Titans, Jets and Giants, along with two teams that play on grass fields — Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh.
The NFLPA report cards expanded to include new categories this season, but compared to last year’s categories there were three areas where Seattle made significant jumps that helped with their No. 4 ranking overall.
Last season, the Seahawks received a C grade for the training room, which jumped to an A-minus this season. Ownership was graded a C-plus last season and an A this year. And the training staff went from a B-minus to an A.
The survey was conducted between Nov. 2 and Dec. 11 and all players who were on a roster and that time were eligible to participate.
Tim Booth: Tim Booth is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, where he covers the Kraken and the ongoing story surrounding possible NBA expansion and helps with coverage of the Seahawks and Mariners.