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Stacy Rost: How do champion Seahawks ace the offseason?

If splashy moves lead to high grades, then the Seattle Seahawks’ offseason so far is pretty dull.

Seahawks Offseason Tracker: Signings, draft picks and more

They didn’t make a blockbuster trade like the Rams, who sent a first-rounder to Kansas City for All-Pro corner Trent McDuffie. They didn’t sign a future Hall of Famer like Mike Evans — but the 49ers did. And after losing their Super Bowl MVP and leading rusher Ken Walker to the Chiefs, they didn’t land one of his expected replacements; Rico Dowdle signed with the Steelers, Tyler Allgeier went to the Cardinals, and Travis Etienne Jr. landed with the Saints.

But does that mean they haven’t had a productive offseason? Or even a good one? Not necessarily.

NFL.com’s Eric Edholm joined us Monday on Bump and Stacy, and when asked which team has had the best offseason so far, said the Rams (I know, bad news). But that doesn’t knock the Seahawks off the pedestal they earned with their 2025 championship, because Edholm still ranked Seattle first in his latest power rankings — just ahead of LA.

That’s for a few reasons. First, Seattle was already one of the league’s most complete teams and its best defense by DVOA. They’ll need to account for the loss of defensive backs Coby Bryant and Riq Woolen, but they re-signed Josh Jobe, kept Ty Okada and, more importantly, still have their brightest stars on defense in Devon Witherspoon, Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, Byron Murphy II, Julian Love and Ernest Jones, who together combined for three second-team All-Pro nods and three Pro Bowls last season.

The Seahawks didn’t need to add Trent McDuffie because, frankly, they weren’t allowing the explosive pass plays the Rams’ secondary did in key losses to Seattle and Carolina in the regular season. The Rams’ defense took a big step forward, and that’s not great news for the rest of the division. But the Seahawks didn’t take a big step back, either.

Second, the Seahawks’ biggest contract decisions will be made for two players already on the roster. If the Hawks were to trade for Jaxon Smith-Njigba or sign him in free agency, they’d be seen as one of the biggest winners of the offseason. But they’ve already got him (and Witherspoon) on the roster, so keeping both long-term and avoiding holdouts is a win and their biggest move. That — and avoiding damage from the loss of their lead back — will be a stellar offseason.

So what’s the biggest question?

How do you replace Ken Walker at running back, and can you keep your run game dynamic?

Unfortunately for Seattle, a good chunk of that won’t be answered until the season’s underway, but counting on JSN to rack up over 1,700 yards again isn’t going to be the safest move forward for your offense. They added more physicality with running back Emanuel Wilson, but replacing 1,000 yards in the aggregate is always a tough bet. Can they add more insurance via trade (Alvin Kamara is reportedly available) or in the draft? Daniel Jeremiah’s latest mock has them taking Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price at No. 32 overall.