I know, too early. There will be injuries and maybe even trades. And camp battles to resolve. Even then, right now, my projection would be as follows.
JSAC = average number carried in the John Schneider era
QB (JSAC 2.1):
(3) Darnold, Lock, Milroe.
Can't expose Milroe to waivers, but I don't think he'll be ready to be the backup yet. Hopefully one day.
RB (JSAC 3.9):
(4): Price, Holani, Wilson, Wright.
Not sure that McIntosh will be back day one on the active roster. Charbonnet should return at some point.
FB (JSAC 0.8):
(2): Ouzts, Russell.
Both ironically being college TEs and recent converts. I personally might not keep Russell, but they love him on special teams. The Nick Bellore of current era, though without defensive versality.
TE (JSAC 3.1):
(4): Barner, Arroyo, Saubert, Bryant.
12 and 13 personnel being in vogue, 4 is a conservative number, though it is more than that with Ouzts and Russell. There will be a competition for the fourth spot between Kallerup, Bryant and Mason. Less risky to expose Kallerup and Mason to the waivers. Bryant is a proven NFL player with most career catches out of everyone.
WR (JSAC 5.6):
(5): JSN, Kupp, Shaheed, Horton, Bobo, Emmanuel.
One day, the Bobo experience will end, but seemingly not this year given us matching for his deal. As to the rest, waiver exposure isn't really a concern, but Emmanuel is most athletic out of the rest and a fresh draft pick. And a proven returner. And under team control for four years. If we keep him or someone else as the sixth guy, then we need to drop 2nd FB, 4th TE or 9th OL. All of which would create more waiver concerns.
OL (JSAC 9.5):
(9): Cross, Zabel, Sundell, Bradford, Lucas, Jones, Stephens, Cabeldue, Oluwatimi.
The first 7 seem like locks. Cabeldue is a great scheme fit and super athletic. Oluwatimi has played center at OK level. Cannot expose either to the waivers. This would leave Haynes, Richman, Brown and Kight as PS candidates. Haynes might be traded or leave. Kight could be picked up from waivers, rare as that is. Even then, don't think we'll carry more than 26 on offense, leaving 24 for defense. Can be explained by Milroe taking an extra spot.
DL/EDGE (JSAC 8.7):
Here the scheme and role labels have evolved. Think that, today, 10 is a good number of both DLs and what are labelled as OLBs (really Edges) by the Seahawks presently.
DL (5): Williams, Murphy, Reed, Mills and Morris.
They list only Mills and Morris as DEs currently. And only Williams and Murphy as DTs currently. Believe that they would all be kept, yes even Morris who goes back to Michigan with McD. Reed and all the rest are listed as NT. He would obviously be kept and then a few NTs on the PS, maybe Pili and Eastern. Can be activated if expecting a run heavy offense from the opponent.
Edge (5): Today, these guys are listed as LBs, though DLaw and Ivey at least would be DEs in the old days.
Lawrence, Hall, Nwosu, Fowler and Ivey.
And a bunch of depth guys fighting for the PS spots after them. Some quite promising, but not huge waiver risks.
LB (JSAC 6.3):
The legacy number here is skewed by the old 4-3 base defense era. Today, they can roll with just 4 iLBs, and even that is partially for ST reasons.
(4): Jones, Thomas, Knight, Surratt
The fourth spot would likely depend on waiver risks above all. O'Connell has played well for us, but likely not a waiver risk as an UDFA. We raided Chris Paul, a mid round pick, from the Rams. Obviously a waiver concern on the opening day. Surratt is the best athlete and a rather early third round pick. O'Connell and Surratt played in the Super Bowl. For now, I would guess that Surratt would be the biggest waiver concern and, hence, make the opening roster. Could be Chris Paul Jr. also, as we already poached Derion Kendrick from Rams last year, whom they poached back subsequently.
CB (JSAC 5.4):
(5): Witherspoon, Jobe, Neal, Igbinoghene, Pritchett.
First three should be locks. Believe that Igbinoghene will end up getting a chance to reclaim his career, unless he were to tank during the camp. Believe that Pritchett is a higher waiver risk and above all more experienced in McD's demanding scheme than Fuller. Yet, Fuller might not have zero waiver risk. Hoping for Fuller, Dansby and Broden to make it to the PS. Shemar has done nothing and is older.
S (JSAC 4.6):
(5): Emmanwori, Love, Okada, Clark, Bell.
Emmanwori is so special that he can be counted as a CB also. So it could be seen as 5 CBs, 4 safeties and 1 Emmanwori. Anyhow, the last safety spot should be up for grabs. Yet, D'Anthony Bell is a clear waiver risk. Panthers already claimed him from our LS late last season, yet we re-signed him back in early 2026. Believe that we don't want to go through that again at this point. Lots of depth guys for PS.
K, P and LS are obvious and need to projection.