Seahawks named possible landing spot for another All-Pro playmaker even though they already have one of their own
The Seahawks need as many good players as possible if they want to defend their Super Bowl title. A recent pairing is exciting on paper, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense when you really dive into the details.
Building an NFL roster is a never-ending venture and the Seattle Seahawks are well aware of the fact.
The Seahawks have done a good job of setting up their 90-man roster over the last couple of months, but as with any team, questions remain in certain areas of the depth chart.
One such area is receiver depth. The ‘Hawks have a solid trio of pass-catchers in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, and Cooper Kupp. After them, though, it’s a bit shaky.
Therefore, FOX Sports recently listed the Seahawks as a landing spot for former Pro Bowler and All-Pro, Deebo Samuel. Samuel turned 30 back in January and is coming off a 2025 season where he caught 72 passes for 721 yards and five touchdowns. He also added 75 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on 17 carries (4.4 ypc).
Given that he’ll have a full year with Seattle in 2026, midseason acquisition Rashid Shaheed should naturally step into the WR2 role alongside Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But Cooper Kupp is entering his age-33 season.
New Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury and the 30-year-old Samuel overlapped in San Francisco from 2019-24, including for Samuel’s first-team All-Pro season in 2021.
Ben arthur
FOX Sports
Deebo Samuel and the Seahawks sound exciting, but the don’t make a lot of sense
And it’s because they have a similar player in Shaheed, who ironically enough, has his own Pro Bowl and All-Pro nod.
Shaheed is a dynamic playmaker that can be moved around the offense and he’s used on sweeps, screens, gadget plays, etc. just like Samuel. He’s more a matchup than a true, beat-you-with-route-running type receiver, except more dynamic and explosive than Samuel at this stage of his career.
When you combine that with the fact Samuel will likely command around $7-$10 million on the current market, it doesn’t make sense to bring in basically the same player as Shaheed at that price point.
Mostly because the Seahawks wouldn’t be able to utilize him enough to justify the cost. They’re already paying Smith-Njigba more than $42 million per year, Shaheed $17 million per year, and Kupp $15 million per year.
How much money is the Seahawks spending on their receiver room?
Per Spotrac, the Seahawks are allocating $45.8 million to the wide receiver room in 2026, which is ninth-most out of all 32 teams. Below are the contract details and cap hit percentage for Smith-Njigba, Shaheed, and Kupp.
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Four-years, $168.6 million/3.44%
- Rashid Shaheed: Three-years, $51 million/2.32%
- Cooper Kupp: Three-years, $45 million/5.80%
So, while the idea of Samuel in Seattle is fun, especially when considering his history with new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury, it’s easy to see why it just doesn’t make sense once you break it all down.