The Super Bowl MVP is gone. A starting safety is, too.
A linebacker just signed a three-year, $60 million contract to play with the Bengals, and a cornerback took a one-year, $15 million deal with Philly.
Oh, and for good measure, the esteemed offensive coordinator is now the Raiders’ coach. So what should you call this new-look Seahawks team? Easy. Next season’s Super Bowl favorites.
The past few days have been an NFL free-agent frenzy, and Seattle’s roster has seen some high-profile departures. Running back Kenneth Walker III is a Chief, safety Coby Bryant is a Bear, linebacker Boye Mafe is in Cincinnati, and cornerback Riq Woolen is an Eagle.
It’s easy to watch key players change uniforms and wonder if the glory of last season’s title run can be repeated. This is especially true when the Seahawks — thus far, at least — have yet to add replacements for these guys.
It’s also fair to wonder if wunderkind play-caller Klint Kubiak taking the head-coaching job in Las Vegas will have a noticeable effect on an offense that set a franchise record for points last season — doing so before the last game of the season was played.
All justifiable doubts. But doubts outweighed by depth.
Here’s something the Seahawks still have: Every player who earned a Pro Bowl, All-Pro, or All-Rookie nod. That includes quarterback Sam Darnold, receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, defensive end Leonard Williams, linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence, linebacker Ernest Jones IV, cornerback Devon Witherspoon, receiver/returner Rashid Shaheed and safety Nick Emmanwori.
Here are some other things the Seahawks still have: Their entire offensive line, (basically) their entire defensive interior, and a coach in Mike Macdonald who may be the best in the league at what he does.
Every offensive player who started on offense in the Super Bowl besides Walker is back. Every defensive player who started on defense in the Super Bowl besides Bryant is back. Ty Okada should fill in for Bryant nicely. Josh Jobe will likely play every snap with Woolen gone. The only real hole for now is Walker — particularly with fellow running back Zach Charbonnet out nine to 10 months because of an ACL tear. But general manager John Schneider and the rest of the Seahawks brass always seem to find a way via the draft or free agency.
That’s one reason not to fret about the Seahawks lacking any splash signings during this March. They’ve made some integral re-signings (see: Jobe and Shaheed) but rarely make headlines by bringing in new players at this stage of the process.
But whether it’s in the draft, a trade just before the season begins — a midseason deal (such as when they acquired Williams and Jones), the roster generally fills out in the places the Seahawks need it. And with this core in place — with this defense playing some of the most dominant football of the decade in the second half of the season — optimism should be high.
But what about the Rams?
Yeah, they are a legitimate concern. Not only did they significantly outgain the Seahawks in their final two meetings — both of which Seattle won — but they added cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie, and re-signed safety Kam Curl to a contract extension. The back end was once seen as the weak spot for the team Seattle squashed in the NFC Championship Game last season. The perception is that it upgraded there.
Still … one thing the Seahawks have shown is the ability to get markedly better as the season progresses under Macdonald. It’s happened in each of the past two years. And if they can fill out the running game, they could very well go into next season as the most complete team in the league.
Nobody wanted to see Kubiak go, but coordinators can be replaced. This is a league fueled by dominant players, smart coaches and savvy executives, and Seattle checks all of those boxes.
Does this mean the Seahawks should be favored against the entire NFL field? Of course not. Football is way too unpredictable, and though the Seahawks ended last season as the best in the league, they were fortunate to spend most of it as one of the healthiest, too.
But if I had to pick one squad as the most likely to capture the Lombardi Trophy, I’d go with the Seahawks. That’s not homerism, that’s realism.
They’ve been quiet in March, but that’s meaningless. Come September, things will get real noisy.
Matt Calkins: mcalkins@seattletimes.com. Matt Calkins has been a sports columnist with the Seattle Times since 2015, where he has covered national title games, got a Seahawk to design his apartment and once extracted a two-word quote from Marshawn Lynch.