ANALYSIS|Back to Contenders: How the Seahawks Were Rebuilt in Three Seasons

Photo Credit: Steph Chambers/Getty Images via Sports Illustrated

After the soul-crushing trade that sent former Seattle Seahawks franchise quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos in the spring of 2022, it was evident that Seahawks management wanted to move in a new direction and start fresh. At the time, General Manager John Schneider denied that the team was undergoing a rebuild, preferring to call it more of a “reset.”

Revisiting the trade three and a half years later, it is safe to say that the Seahawks and Schneider won the trade. Wilson had two horrific seasons with the Broncos, which ended with his release. Now, in the 2025 season, he sits as the third-string quarterback for the New York Giants.

Meanwhile, the 2025 National Football League (NFL) season has been a fun ride for Seahawk fans, with the team currently sitting at a record of eleven wins and three losses (11-3) as of Week 15. As a result, they are back to being Super Bowl contenders, this time with a new, young, and hungry team.

Since Wilson left, Schneider has built the Seahawks into an entirely new team; he has made stellar choices with his draft picks, including those he received in the Wilson deal, taking on both free agent signings and new hires.

The Seahawks’ 2021 season was not only Russell Wilson's last season as a Seahawks quarterback, but also his worst season as the franchise starter. The team finished with a record of seven wins and ten losses (7-10), the first time the Seahawks had a win percentage of below 50 per cent with Wilson as their starter. Two months later, Wilson was dealt to the Broncos. For the next three seasons, the Seahawks committed to Wilson's backup, Geno Smith.

Possibly the other biggest move that Schneider made besides the Wilson trade during this “reset” was letting go of beloved, longtime Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll. Mike MacDonald from the Baltimore Ravens took over his position after the 2023 season.

Carroll coached the Seahawks for 14 seasons and coached them to a Super Bowl title along with Russell Wilson in 2014. He was also the oldest NFL head coach at 72-years-old when the Seahawks let him go.

On the other hand, MacDonald was the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens before joining the Seahawks. MacDonald, only being 36-years-old at the time of his hiring, was brought in not only to replace an aging Pete Carroll but also to clean up Seattle's issues with defence. 

In the 2023 season, before MacDonald was hired, the Seahawks were in the bottom 10 ranking in nearly every major NFL defensive stat, including average yards allowed per game, average points allowed per game, and third-down stoppage rate.

In just one and a half seasons with the Seahawks, MacDonald has built one of the best defences in the league, with the Seahawks' defence now ranked top 10 in most major NFL defensive stats so far.

The Seahawks also drafted notable players on defence, including picks received in the Russell Wilson trade, such as cornerback Devon Witherspoon, linebacker Boye Mafe, and edge rusher Derick Hall.

Some other notable moves include: drafting cornerback Riq Woolen and safety Coby Bryant, signing defensive end Demarcus Lawrence in free agency from the Dallas Cowboys, signing safety Julian Love from the New York Giants, and trading for defensive end Leonard Williams from the New York Giants.

The Seahawks also had to rebuild their offence after the Wilson trade. Although Geno Smith led the Seahawks to three straight winning seasons and a playoff berth in the 2022 season, management and fans knew he wasn’t the long-term solution to Seattle's quarterback situation, and the club traded him to the Las Vegas Raiders this past offseason.

A few days after trading Smith, the Seahawks signed quarterback Sam Darnold from the Minnesota Vikings after he was coming off a career year with the club. Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record in the 2024 season and was being considered for the NFL’s MVP award.

Seattle's wide receiver core was one of the best in the NFL before Wilson left, with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett being the main, stellar duo out wide. In 2023, the Seahawks used their first-round draft pick to select wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba from Ohio State University to bolster their receiving core.

Before this season, Seahawks management traded their star receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers and committed to Smith-Njigba as their number one receiver heading into this season. They also released Tyler Lockett this past offseason and replaced him with veteran wide receiver and Super Bowl LVI MVP Cooper Kupp from the Los Angeles Rams in free agency.

Trading Metcalf proved to be the right decision. Smith-Njigba is now one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. In 14 games this season, he is currently leading the league in receiving yards with 1,541, has 96 catch completions, and nine receiving touchdowns.

In fact, in week 12, Smith-Njigba passed Metcalf for most receiving yards in a single season by a Seahawks receiver in club history. That means he passed him in only 11 games, while Metcalf’s yards were from the whole NFL season, which is 17 games.

Meanwhile, Metcalf has had a slow start to his tenure in Pittsburgh. He only has 52 completions and 753 receiving yards in 13 games with the Steelers. This was nearly half of what Smith-Njigba has with the Seahawks this season.

All the rebuilding efforts by John Schneider and Mike Macdonald allowed the Seahawks to become Super Bowl contenders, and it is worth taking a look at what the Seahawks have done as a club this season.

As mentioned previously, the Seahawks have a record of eleven wins and three losses (11-3), and are currently ranked 2nd in the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. In 14 games, Sam Darnold has thrown for 3,433 passing yards and thrown 22 touchdowns.

As mentioned, Smith-Njigba currently leads the league in receiving yards with 1,541 and has caught 9 touchdown passes this season.

As of Week 15, the Seahawks collectively average 28.9 points per game, which is ranked 4th best in the NFL. The team has a point differential of +163, the most in the NFL, and the Club has scored over 30 points in seven games this season, indicating a very strong and consistent scoring ability.

The Seahawks’ defence has been just as electric as their offence. As of Week 14, they have only allowed an average of 17.4 points a game this season, which is the second-lowest in the NFL. They have only given up an average of 288.2 yards of total offence per game, which is sixth least in the NFL. And they have only given up a third-down conversion rate of 32.6 per cent, which is the second-lowest in the league.