The pass rush against the Cowboys wasn’t good. This isn’t disappointing for the here and now — but it was slightly frustrating in the context of the future.
The Seahawks don’t have a youth movement off the edge. DeMarcus Lawrence, now 34, has confirmed 2026 will be his final season. Dante Fowler recently turned 32. Uchenna Nwosu turns 30 in December.
Both Fowler and Nwosu are out of contract at the end of the season.
Derick Hall is the only long-term piece at the position currently on the roster.
We’ve seen in the past how weak depth and a lack of talent in your EDGE rotation can hurt a team. The Seahawks spent a period of time from the end of the Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett era until the start of Mike Macdonald’s tenure scrambling to find options.
They won’t want to end up in the same place.
If one of the younger players competing on Saturday had looked sharp — it would’ve been a great benefit. They didn’t need to look like the next big thing at outside linebacker — a pass-rush version of Ty Okada or Drake Thomas would suffice. Just someone who you could imagine rotating into a starting group.
None of those participating flashed that ability. I know some might claim Jalen Gaines did — but his one pressure came late in the game against questionable competition and he lacked the sudden quickness to turn a 1v1 win into an end product.
Jeremy Fowler’s recent report from Seahawks training camp noted that drafting a pass-rusher was on Seattle’s to-do list this year — but with limited early-round picks they couldn’t make it happen. They were connected at various times to R Mason Thomas — a second round pick for the Chiefs.
Had the Seahawks taken him at #32, they would’ve only created a hole somewhere else. They had four key need areas pre-draft — running back, cornerback, safety and pass-rush — based on the players they lost in free agency.
At least one position was going to miss out when you only had your native picks in the first three rounds. Therefore, there’s no criticism to jab the Seahawks with here.
Nevertheless, if this is the final year of Lawrence and Nwosu, and Fowler ends up being a one-year arrangement, they can’t really afford to simply rely on the draft next year to prop up their pass-rush arsenal. Especially when Hall is only coming off a two-sack season in 2025 and is yet to show he can be a lead dog off the edge.
The free agent options for next year are not great. The Seahawks are also not in a strong position to go wading into the market — with new money needing to be saved for the growing number of re-signings they’re having to make.
That could be an issue because both Lawrence and Nwosu were significant veteran signings — the kind of which might not be possible moving forward.
It’ll be interesting to see how they approach this situation. They have good interior options that do as much to help an EDGE rush as anything. For that reason, they might feel like a draft pick and a couple of choice veteran additions will be OK.
I do remember the Benson Mayowa and Bruce Irvin days though, mixed in with an aggressive move to get Darrell Taylor. It didn’t work — and I’m not sure banking on Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy and Rylie Mills to bail a similar rotation out is a safe bet.
It’s why I think there could be a veteran move to be made at some point over the next seven months — either before the deadline or when the new league year begins. Someone on a deal that isn’t necessarily expiring, that can be acquired without needing to immediately pump new money into the deal.
It’s why, without wanting to go over old ground too much, a Maxx Crosby trade remains appealing even though it’s a complete mystery if or when he’d be available again. He’s signed for the long-term already, so you could find a way to slot his salary into the structure — even if things needed re-jigging.
They could also do what they’ve done in the past with Leonard Williams, Ernest Jones and Rashid Shaheed — sign a player on an expiring deal, get a feel for them and then extend them. That will be harder to do from now on though, given multiple players have been given bigger second contracts and cap and cash space is running thin.
The other factor will be that the Seahawks are now coached by Macdonald — who seems firmly on top of his brief and feels unlikely to ever allow a situation to happen where his roster is weak off the EDGE.
Or, he might be able to get a lot out of whatever options he has — just as he did with Kyle Van Noy and Jadeveon Clowney in Baltimore.
It is going to be an area to monitor though. I think the Seahawks will have their ear to the ground at this position as we edge towards the trade deadline. If they can get someone who is more than a mere rental — it’ll certainly help for 2027 if key players move on. And we’ll need to keep an eye on the top pass rushers in college football this year.
