RENTON, WASHINGTON - JULY 25: Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks takes the field before practice at Virginia Mason Athletic Center on July 25, 2026 in Renton, Washington. (Jack Compton / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - Fresh off their second Super Bowl victory in franchise history, the Seattle Seahawks opened training camp for the 2026 season on Saturday.
The consequence of a championship triumph is a shortened offseason. It's a trade-off the team will gladly accept as the march to another title begins again.
"Great first day. Awesome to be back. The guys are in great spirits. Excited that we are back rolling," head coach Mike Macdonald said.
This isn't the same team that won the Super Bowl back in February, 29-13, over the New England Patriots. But the roster is returning an awful lot of players from the championship squad, which has very few obvious position battles or areas of concern as camp gets underway.
Due to the injuries to Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh, the running back spot will be the biggest focal point for the team during training camp as first-round pick Jadarian Price, George Holani, and free agent addition Emmanuel Wilson vie for opportunities.
"We are focused on execution and there’s things you can see in this type of environment," Macdonald said of the running back group. We’re going to be relying on our coaches a lot, our personnel folks, the things they see. It’s one of those things where it plays itself out. You’ve seen the way we’ve operated. It’s not like we’re making cut and dry decisions going into the first game. Those things are always a discussion on how we want to move and shake throughout the season too. We’re in a good spot right now and we got guys coming back which is a positive. We'll see how it goes."
The Seahawks have four players on the physically unable to perform list to begin camp after wide receiver/cornerback Tyrone Broden was waived earlier this week. Charbonnet and McIntosh, safety Nick Emmanwori, and rookie nose tackle Deven Eastern
Charbonnet was off on a side field doing individual workouts during the opening practice of camp. After tearing his ACL in the team's playoff win over the San Francisco 49ers, Charbonnet didn't have surgery until after the Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in February.
Charbonnet will likely start the season on the PUP list, which will require him to miss at least the first month of the season. However, his recovery appears to be going quite well.
"Any opportunity to get a chance to talk about Zach, I’m going to take advantage of it," Macdonald said. "He's done a phenomenal job. He's just attacked the heck out of the out of the offseason in his rehab, as you would expect. The returns have been what he's deserved. He’s really put in that work. I'm really excited about where he is. No timetable right now, but he's kicking butt, and he deserves a shout out because he's a special guy."
Meanwhile, McIntosh has had a far more challenging road after tearing his ACL in training camp last year. He continues to have a sleeve wrap on his injured leg as he tries to get back into action.
"Kenny's doing a great job too," Macdonald said. "There’s no timetable, but that was a tough injury. We’re going on almost a year now. That was a really unfortunate injury for Kenny-Mac, but he’s right there, and he’s rehabbing and working hard."
Emmanwori being placed on the PUP list was a bit of a surprise. As it turns out, the ankle injury he sustained in the week of practice leading up to Super Bowl LX continued to linger through the offseason and eventually needed to be addressed surgically.
"It’s the ankle from the Super Bowl," Macdonald said. "It was something that he's been dealing with since the Super Bowl. He was able to perform, was able to train, and do some things in the offseason program. But it just got to the point where it was best for him in the long term to go ahead and get it fixed. So that's what we all decided to do. It was the best thing for him for now and in the foreseeable future for the rest of his career. He's doing a great job. We don't necessarily have a timetable. It's not like we lost him for the season. I don't want to put time on it, but it's not a serious thing where you're looking at any long-term consideration."
However, Macdonald was a bit coy when asked about whether Emmanwori would be available for the regular season kickoff against the New England Patriots on September 9.
"Could he play in the opener? Sure. He could play in the opener," Macdonald said with a grin.
Seattle lost running back Ken Walker III to the Kansas City Chiefs, linebacker Boye Mafe to the Cincinnati Bengals, cornerback Riq Woolen to the Philadelphia Eagles, and safety Coby Bryant to the Chicago Bears. They replaced those losses with Price at running back, free agent addition Dante Fowler Jr. at linebacker, and second- and third-round draft picks Bud Clark and Julian Neal, and free agent additions Noah Igbinoghene and Rodney Thomas II in the secondary.
All things considered, it was a pretty painless offseason for the Seahawks.
Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and linebacker Derrick Hall got new contracts this offseason, but cornerback Devon Witherspoon is still yet to sign an extension. Reports in recent days indicated that talks are progressing, but not done yet as Witherspoon's agents also represent New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who is also due a new deal.
Macdonald is leaving that to general manager John Schneider, but said he feels extremely confident in their process.
"That’s John’s area, but I can tell you this," Macdonald said. "I couldn’t have more confidence in our process and all the people involved in the whole operation. I’m just really confident right now in where we are with Spoon (Devon Witherspoon) and all his people and the way that we do business. Spoon’s doing a great job. He’s practicing his tail off. He's the same guy and nothing’s changed. We’re just operating as usual right now."
Fowler didn't practice on the first day of camp for Seattle. Macdonald indicated it was for precautionary reasons and he's expected to return to practice shortly.
On the positive front, wide receiver Tory Horton, tight end A.J. Barner, and tackle Josh Jones were all on the field for the first day of camp.
Horton had been out since injuring his shin in a win over the Washington Commanders in November.
"It's great to see Tory (Horton) back out there. We haven't seen 15 doing this thing in a minute," Macdonald said.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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