Will playoff hero Rashid Shaheed return to Seahawks in 2026?

The Seahawks’ midseason acquisition of Rashid Shaheed had a well-known feeling for John Schneider.

Seattle’s common supervisor was a younger scout with the Green Bay Packers once they signed one other vast receiver and return specialist, Desmond Howard, in 1996. The former Heisman Trophy winner scored 5 touchdowns on particular groups that 12 months, together with one on a 99-yard kickoff return in Super Bowl XXXI on his approach to being named the sport’s MVP.

As with Howard and the Packers 29 years earlier, Seattle won’t be Super Bowl champions if it weren’t for Shaheed. After arriving in a Nov. 4 commerce with the New Orleans Saintsthe pending free agent scored three return touchdowns and pitched in on offense with sufficient time to assist the Seahawks declare their second Lombardi Trophy in franchise historical past.

“It was a huge blessing,” Schneider stated final week on the mix. “…You take away the football player, he’s a really cool human. He came in, players welcomed him right away, he fit in great. It was fun being able to talk to him about the Desmond Howard stuff when we were with the Packers, how that changed our season when we won a world championship with Coach [Mike] Holmgren.”

Schneider is hoping Shaheed’s story has a distinct ending than that of Howard, who left the Packers in free company in 1997. But the most recent information on that entrance didn’t paint an optimistic image, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting Wednesday that Shaheed just isn’t shut to a brand new take care of the Seahawks and that he is anticipated to check the market when the free company negotiating window opens Monday.

That means that it will not be straightforward for the Seahawks to re-sign one of many key items of their Super Bowl run, even with Shaheed saying upon his arrival that he was “here to stay.”

Seattle’s different free brokers embrace operating again Kenneth Walker IIIsafety Coby Bryantcornerbacks Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen and outdoors linebacker Boye Mafe. Schneider spent an excellent chunk of his time in Indianapolis making an attempt to gauge what sort of cash these gamers can be in search of by assembly with their representatives. Drew Rosenhaus, with whom Schneider has a long-standing relationship, is Shaheed’s agent.

Another distinguished agent who doesn’t characterize any of the aforementioned six gamers advised ESPN that, by his estimate, Shaheed’s market might yield a deal averaging round $18 million. Spotrac.com calculates its worth at round $14 million per 12 months.

“We’re down here trying to talk to everybody and get a feel for what the spring’s going to look like,” Schneider stated. “He knows we’d love to have him back.”

There could also be added motivation for the Seahawks to re-sign Shaheed since they gave up fourth- and fifth-round picks to purchase him, leaving Seattle with solely 4 alternatives in April’s draft. But the largest incentive of all is that he is a game-changing expertise.

Shaheed, 27, made the Pro Bowl as a kick returner for the second time in his four-year profession after scoring twice on particular groups in the common season. That included his 58-yard punt return for a landing towards the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16. It was one of the vital impactful performs of the Seahawks’ season, igniting their rally from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter earlier than they received in extra time to preserve management of the NFC’s high seed. After their first-round playoff bye, Shaheed returned the opening kickoff of the divisional spherical 95 yards for a landing, setting an early tone in Seattle’s blowout win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Shaheed, although, did not produce as a lot on offense as some anticipated when his commerce to Seattle reunited him with coordinator Klint Kubiakwho held the identical place in 2024 with the Saints.

Including playoffs, he has totaled 352 scrimmage yards and no touchdowns on 29 touches in 12 video games with the Seahawks. That per-game common of 29.3 yards — which got here because the third receiver behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp in Seattle’s run-heavy offense — was considerably lower than his common of just below 52 scrimmage yards over three and a half seasons in New Orleans.

One of the NFL’s high deep threats since he entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Weber State in 2022, Shaheed averaged extra air yards per goal with Seattle (16.1) than in New Orleans (13.6), whereas his yards-per-reception common (14.8) was just about the identical. But Shaheed solely had 18 catches on 36 post-trade targets, with three going for greater than 25 yards. One was a 51-yard achieve towards the Rams in the NFC Championship Game. He additionally had two clutch catches on Seattle’s game-winning drive towards the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15.

Then once more, bottom-line manufacturing does not inform the total story of Shaheed’s affect on Seattle’s offense. In eight video games earlier than their arrival, the Seahawks confronted extra containers with not less than eight defenders on designed operating performs than another crew, in accordance to ESPN Research. They dropped to eleventh over the ultimate 9 video games of the common season, as defenses had been pressured to account for the specter of their vertical velocity. Including playoffs, the share of such performs went from roughly 37% to 29%, which was no small issue in Seattle’s run recreation coming alive down the stretch.

In figuring out how a lot they’re keen to pay Shaheed, the Seahawks have to gauge how a lot Tory Horton can provide them as a less expensive different. After falling to the fifth spherical final 12 months due to a leg harm that reduce his closing Colorado St. season brief, Horton scored 5 touchdowns over his first eight video games as Seattle’s No. 3 receiver, plus one other on a 95-yard punt return. He then missed the rest of the season with a shin harm. Coach Mike Macdonald advised reporters on the mix that Horton “got fixed up” and that he will not be prepared to take part in the offseason exercise program this spring.

Of Kupp’s $12.99 million base wage for subsequent season, $9 million grew to become totally assured when he remained on the Seahawks’ roster 5 days after the Super Bowl, indicating they’re ready to maintain him for his age-33 season at a complete value of $13.5 million. Smith-Njigba is in line for an extension that would make him the sport’s highest-paid receiver, whereas star cornerback Devon Witherspoon can also be eligible for what could be an enormous new deal.

Which implies that even with loads of cap area — roughly $58 million, in accordance to OverTheCap.com — the Seahawks can solely go to date in order to re-sign Shaheed. Unless he finds a softer market than anticipated, he’ll probably comply with Howard’s footsteps in one other approach.

“The Rams game… I still pull that thing up on YouTube just to watch it,” Schneider stated of Shaheed’s return landing. “It was pretty special. He ran right by us going like 140 miles an hour. But yeah, it definitely did [change Seattle’s season]. It was exciting, and we’d love having him back.”