It’s not totally unprecedented for a team to go from 10 wins to a Super Bowl appearance in one year, but it’s fair to say the Seattle Seahawks were not expected to make that kind of leap in 2025.

In fact, many pundits believed they might regress after trading QB Geno Smith and WR D.K. Metcalf. A strong defense under young coach Mike Macdonald was enough to keep the Seahawks in games in his first season, but would the offense be improved enough for Seattle to win the NFC West in year two?

Every step of the way in 2025, the answer was a resounding yes. Not only did the offense take a noticeable step forward, but the defense only got better, and none of that improvement happened by accident.

From calculated changes to the offense to terrific finds on the defensive side of the ball, Seahawks GM John Schneider set a blueprint for teams looking to make the jump from “good” to “great.”

Here’s a closer look at how the Seahawks built their Super Bowl 60 roster.

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How Seahawks built Super Bowl 60 roster

The Seahawks are about as close to the true definition of “team” as you can find, with every facet of the roster contributing, but these moves over the last two years helped get the franchise out of neutral and into the Super Bowl:

Coaching change 

The Seahawks surprised the NFL by firing coach Pete Carroll after 14 years and a championship. While Carroll seemed like he might be able to determine his own end date in Seattle, the organization decided it was time for a fresh start after struggling to return to the top of the NFC in the years following the “Legion of Boom” era.

After 2025, the answer is conclusive: the Seahawks got it right.

As much as Carroll will go down as a franchise great, every coach reaches his end point at one time or another. The Seahawks didn’t wait until it was too late and made the change after 2023, bringing in Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as his much younger successor. 

Macdonald squeezed 10 wins out of the Seahawks in 2024 thanks to a strong defensive season, but the offense could never put it all together. Rather than sit and wait for it all to come together, Macdonald, Schneider and the rest of the Seahawks’ brain-trust wisely opted for wholesale changes on the offensive side of the ball following the season.

Here’s a closer look at those changes. 

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Quarterback swap

The biggest change the Seahawks made ahead of 2025 came at the quarterback position, with Sam Darnold replacing Geno Smith. While the two weren’t swapped for one another directly, Seattle developed a clear plan once Smith’s contract demands proved to be too much.

Smith was surprisingly traded to the Las Vegas Raiders days before free agency, and reports quickly connected the franchise to Darnold, whom the Minnesota Vikings allowed to become a free agent despite a breakthrough 2024 season. Darnold agreed to a three-year, $100.5 million deal shortly after free agency began.

Many were skeptical that Darnold would elevate a stagnant Seahawks offense, particularly after he struggled in his last two games with the Vikings, but he proved to be the right fit for Seattle even as he dealt with some turnover issues.

Darnold completed a career-best 67.7 percent of passes in 2025, throwing for 4,084 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Darnold’s interception rate fell from 3.7 percent over his first 10 starts as a Seahawk to 1.9 percent over the final seven games of the regular season, and he flashed an instant connection with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who turned in a career year.

Smith, meanwhile, struggled mightily with Carroll as his coach in Las Vegas. The Seahawks may not have any hard feelings toward either of them, but their struggles juxtaposed with Seattle’s success became hard to ignore as the season went on.

MORE: Breaking down Sam Darnold’s Seahawks contract

2025 offensive re-tool

Quarterback wasn’t the only major point of change for the Seahawks’ offense in 2025. Macdonald fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb after the 2024 season, making a bold move one year into his tenure and replacing him with Klint Kubiak, whose hot start with the New Orleans Saints in 2024 fell by the wayside after a glut of injuries. 

With Kubiak calling the plays, the Seahawks’ offense moved from middle-of-the-pack to top-eight in both yards and points. 

In addition to QB and OC changes, the Seahawks made a drastic change by dealing DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers after he requested a trade. Seattle placed confidence in Smith-Njigba’s ability to turn into a bonafide No. 1 receiver, and the organization signed Cooper Kupp to help fill the void in the receiving corps. The Seahawks also moved on from TE Noah Fant, handing the keys to AJ Barner and rookie Elijah Arroyo.

The backfield was the only facet of the offense to go mostly untouched, with Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet both returning, but the rushing attack improved as the rest of the offense improved. The Seahawks added guard Grey Zabel through the draft, and the continued development of Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas resulted in a more stable offensive line and new contracts for both tackles. 

MORE: Sam Darnold’s full career timeline, from Jets to Seahawks

Demarcus Lawrence signing

As impactful as just about any offseason move for the Seahawks was the addition of veteran defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, who spent his first 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.

Lawrence’s pass-rushing production dipped late in his tenure with the Cowboys, and he missed most of the 2024 season due to injury, making the three-year deal a risk for the Seahawks.

Lawrence instead helped transform Seattle’s defense, putting together an excellent season as a run defender and proving he wasn’t done as a pass-rusher, either, with six sacks and 20 quarterback hits — more than any season since 2018. Lawrence also forced three fumbles in the regular season and three more across the Seahawks’ first two playoff games.

As a whole, the Seahawks spent $243 million in 2025 free agency, the third-most among NFL teams. 

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Defensive gems 

The Seahawks have their share of big names on defense, from veterans Leonard Williams and Lawrence to young CB Devon Witherspoon, but part of the reason for their dominant season on that side of the ball was low-cost finds by the front office.

One was LB Ernest Jones IV, who started for the rival Los Angeles Rams early in his career but was traded twice in 2024. Acquiring Jones during the 2024 season cost the Seahawks only LB Jerome Baker and a fourth-round pick, and Jones turned into a Second-Team All-Pro selection in 2025 with five interceptions. 

Also sharing the field with Jones is Drake Thomas, a 25-year-old linebacker who played a grand total of 41 defensive snaps over his first two seasons before breaking out as a starter in 2025. Thomas, a former undrafted free agent, came out of nowhere to put together a strong season on Seattle’s defense, recording 3.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss and an interception despite his limited experience. 

With Jones, Thomas and Lawrence all joining the fray full-time, the Seahawks’ defense went from 23rd in yards allowed per carry to No. 1 in the league.

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