SEATTLE -- The Seattle Seahawks open the 2024 NFL regular season against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 8 at Lumen Field.
They'll do so with a new head coach in Mike Macdonald -- the youngest in the NFL at 37 years old -- but not an entirely new roster.
To be sure, general manager John Schneider armed Pete Carroll's replacement with several notable additions this offseason, including a trade for backup quarterback Sam Howell and the selection of defensive tackle Byron Murphy II at No. 16 overall. They also replaced both starting inside linebackers, moved on from two of their top three safeties and remade the interior of their offensive line, among other changes.
Add it all up, and the turnover was somewhere between the usual roster churn in any given year and the rebuilds that often come with coaching changes. While the Seahawks will look different in 2024, the core of the teams that went 9-8 in each of Carroll's final two seasons remains largely intact.
Here is a projection on what their 53-man roster will look like by the time the season begins:
QUARTERBACKS (2): Geno Smith, Sam Howell
The Seahawks gave up what amounted to a mid-round pick in March for Howell, who's 23 years old and has two years left on his inexpensive rookie deal. Seattle did so with the thought that he could potentially be its starter if Smith falters. Smith needs a strong season to remain in Seattle's plans beyond 2024, but their respective performances over the offseason program left no doubt that he's the better option right now.
RUNNING BACKS (3): Kenneth Walker III, Zach Charbonnet, Kenny McIntosh
Walker ranks eighth among running backs in both rushing yards (1,955) and rushing touchdowns (17) over the past two seasons. McIntosh, a seventh-round pick in 2023, missed half of his rookie season with a knee injury but hardly played upon his return. That was also the case with a handful of other Seahawks draft picks in recent years. That's why it's significant that Schneider now has oversight of Macdonald's staff, meaning coaches now have to answer to him when draft picks aren't seeing the field.
WIDE RECEIVERS (7): DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Dareke Young, Laviska Shenault Jr., Jake Bobo, Dee Eskridge
Smith will again have plenty of weapons at his disposal with Metcalf, Lockett and Smith-Njigba forming one of the NFL's best trio of receivers. Lockett took a pay-cut to return to Seattle for his 10th season with the team. Smith-Njigba appears poised for a breakout in Year 2. Seven receivers is perhaps one more than they'll keep, and that decision could be made for them if Eskridge and/or Young are bit by the injury bug again. But teams will field two kickoff returners under the new rules, and Eskridge and Shenault look like Seattle's top two options.
TIGHT ENDS (3): Noah Fant, Pharaoh Brown, AJ Barner
Re-signing Fant to a two-year, $21 million deal suggests the Seahawks plan to feature him much more than they did last year, when he was targeted only 43 times while sharing snaps with Colby Parkinson and Will Dissly. Seattle cut Dissly and let Parkinson walk in free agency, replacing them with a veteran in Brown and a fourth-round pick in Barner. Seven receivers means only three tight ends in this projection, but Brady Russell and undrafted rookie Jack Westover (who played for new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb at Washington) will also be in the mix.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (9): Charles Cross, Laken Tomlinson, Olu Oluwatimi, McClendon Curtis, Abraham Lucas, Christian Haynes, Nick Harris, George Fant, Anthony Bradford
Tomlinson, the veteran ironman who joined Seattle on a one-year deal in April, is in line to take over at left guard. Oluwatimi, a fifth-round pick in 2023, is the favorite at center. Curtis, who went undrafted in 2023 and backed up at tackle last season, worked as the starting right guard during the spring -- ahead of third-round pick Haynes.
That's three new projected starters, but the best chance for improvement with the Seahawks' offensive line is Lucas returning to health following offseason surgery to repair the knee injury that sidelined him for most of last season. That was a major factor in that unit's struggles.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (7): Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Dre'Mont Jones, Byron Murphy II, Johnathan Hankins, Myles Adams, Cameron Young
The Seahawks rated Murphy as the top defensive player in this year's draft and felt fortunate that he was still available to them at 16. That move came after they re-signed Williams and added Hankins as an early-down run-stuffer. This is arguably the strongest unit on Seattle's roster, and there's enough depth to spread out snaps more than the previous staff did a year ago, when Reed played more than 50 a game. Jones is the X factor after a solid-but-unspectacular debut season in Seattle.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS (4): Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, Darrell Taylor
Nwosu did not appear at all limited during the spring, and while those were non-contact practices, that's a good sign that he'll be ready by the opener after his 2023 season ended early due to a torn pectoral. Nwosu's absence allowed offenses to focus more attention on Mafe, who still managed to set a franchise record with a full sack in seven straight games. Seattle needs more out of Hall after last year's second-round pick produced sparingly as a rookie
INSIDE LINEBACKERS (5): Jerome Baker, Tyrel Dodson, Tyrice Knight, Jon Rhattigan, Patrick O'Connell
The Seahawks brought Bobby Wagner back last offseason at Carroll's behest, but that wasn't going to happen again once Carroll was fired and Schneider assumed full control of the roster. Seattle let Wagner and Jordyn Brooks walk as free agents, signed Baker and Dodson to one-year deals, then drafted Knight in the fourth round. Both Baker and Dodson were sidelined with injuries during the offseason program, leaving Rhattigan and O'Connell -- former undrafted players who have primarily played only on special teams -- as the top two inside linebackers. If there's an addition to be made, it could be to bolster this group.
CORNERBACKS (5): Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Tre Brown, Michael Jackson, Nehemiah Pritchett
Witherspoon made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. What kind of jump can he make in Year 2 under Macdonald? The coach has sounded open to Witherspoon and/or Woolen traveling with certain receivers, something Carroll almost never had his cornerbacks do. Brown and Jackson are starting-caliber players who should see plenty of time on the outside, with Witherspoon moving inside in nickel situations. D.J. James doesn't make the cut in this projection, but he'll be in the mix to join Pritchett -- his Auburn teammate and fellow Day 3 pick -- as a backup.
SAFETIES (5): Julian Love, Rayshawn Jenkins, K'Von Wallace, Coby Bryant, Jerrick Reed II
Love made the Pro Bowl last season despite sharing time with Adams. He'll move into a full-time starting role alongside Jenkins, who was signed after the Seahawks released Adams and Quandre Diggs. Bryant's case for a roster spot is aided by his ability to back up at nickel, which he played as a rookie in 2022. Reed makes it in this projection under the assumption that he'll be back from ACL surgery.
SPECIALISTS (3): Jason Myers, Michael Dickson, Chris Stoll
Myers' performance has followed an interesting pattern, alternating between great seasons and much less remarkable ones in each of the past six years. In even-numbered years, starting with his Pro Bowl season with the New York Jets in 2018, he's made 93.8% of his field-goal attempts (91 of 97). That includes a perfect 24-for-24 in 2020. He made another Pro Bowl in 2022. In odd-numbered years, that percentage drops to 80.6% (75 of 93). That includes seven misses on a league-high 42 attempts last season (though he did make all 33 of his PATs). Myers and the Seahawks won't mind if that trend continues in 2024.