Mike Macdonald’s second training camp with the Seattle Seahawks began with Hall of Famer Warren Moon raising the 12 Flag, and it ended with the coach declaring his team has the best training camp atmosphere, because of the fans, the weather and the overall vibe.
“All of the above is second to none,” Macdonald said Wednesday afternoon at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
Macdonald referred to this initial stage of training camp as the “ramp phase” and “execution phase,” adding that the Seahawks are not “physically competing” against one another, so full evaluations of the team’s progress will take time. That said, Wednesday’s session and Macdonald’s post-practice news conference were the first since mid-June, so let’s dive into a few notes and takeaways from opening day.
Uchenna Nwosu ‘not close’ to return
Thursday, Seattle placed outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu on the physically unable to perform list because of an offseason procedure on his knee. It is unclear when Nwosu, who restructured his contract and took a pay cut this offseason, will be cleared to play.
“We’ll see,” Macdonald said when asked about Nwosu’s return timeline. “We’re going into the season, probably. Throughout the rest of camp, and then we’ll go from there. We’ll hold on to the timeline right now, but we’re not necessarily close.”
Nwosu has been limited to just 12 games over the past two seasons because of multiple injuries. Seattle has other promising edge rushers such as Boye Mafe, Derick Hall and free-agent signee DeMarcus Lawrence, but Nwosu has different skills the team hasn’t been able to adequately replace. The lack of clarity regarding Nwosu’s timeline could result in another in-season move to address the team’s depth chart on the edge.
After Nwosu suffered a torn pectoral muscle in 2023, Seattle signed Frank Clark and traded for defensive tackle Leonard Williams. Last year, Seattle traded for defensive linemen Trevis Gipson and Roy Robertson-Harris after a pair of Nwosu injuries, a sprained MCL in his knee in the preseason finale and a quadriceps tear in his first game in Week 5.
The Seahawks have nearly $35 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap, and that is more than enough to make a splash similar to the Williams trade if Nwosu’s recovery continues well into the regular season. General manager John Schneider has a history of making a flashy move to replace an injured player, notably doing so to acquire defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson (because of Malik McDowell’s head injury) and left tackle Duane Brown (because of George Fant’s torn ACL) in 2017. Does Schneider have eyes on another move, either via free-agent signing or trade?
KW3 healthy, and other injury updates
Ken Walker III was limited during the spring with an ankle injury but was a full participant Wednesday and looked fine running around and catching passes from quarterback Sam Darnold with the rest of the starting unit.
“He looks great,” Macdonald said. “He’s in a great spot mentally. Just awesome to see him do all the things we wanted him to do from the get-go. I know he’s really excited about what’s going on. Great first day.”
In other injury news, cornerback Shaquill Griffin didn’t practice due to an illness. Nose tackle Johnathan Hankins will soon be placed on the non-football injury list because of a back injury, Macdonald said. Hankins’ injury isn’t expected to be a long-term issue.
No word on Noah Fant
Seattle released tight end Noah Fant on Sunday. The move cleared $8.9 million in salary-cap space and pushed AJ Barner and second-round rookie Elijah Arroyo up the tight end depth chart. Macdonald declined to explain Fant’s release.
“I’m not going to tell you exactly why,” he said. “There’s multiple reasons.”
In 2024, Fant caught 48 passes (21st among tight ends) for 500 yards (18th) and one touchdown (tied for 41st), which came in the regular-season finale. The 27-year-old was entering the final year of his contract, and his cap charge of $13.4 million was to account for 4.7 percent of the team’s salary cap.
The timing of the release was curious, given the Seahawks didn’t need immediate cap space and, as Macdonald said, they have yet to fully evaluate the new players on offense because they’re not wearing pads. Regardless, the door is open for either Barner or Arroyo to take over as the lead man at the tight end spot.
“It’s understood what we’re trying to achieve as a football team,” Macdonald said when asked whether he spoke with Barner and Arroyo after Fant’s release. “We love Noah, wish him the best. But we also love the guys that are still here. They know what’s at stake, and it’s going to be a lot of fun watching that competition in the tight end room.”
Mixing up the O-line
Macdonald and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak are mixing up the offensive line rotations, with centers Jalen Sundell and Olu Oluwatimi and right guards Christian Haynes and Anthony Bradford receiving opportunities in front of Darnold and the starting offense. Macdonald said they’ll continue mixing up the rotations through next week when they begin padded practices.
The interesting name in that bunch is Haynes, a 2024 third-round pick whose inability to crack the starting lineup last season was because of a lack of play strength, at least according to former play caller Ryan Grubb. Haynes is a good athlete, and Seattle drafted him with the 81st pick, believing he’d be a starting-caliber guard. Haynes should, in theory, be one of the players to benefit from the switch to a wide-zone-based run game. Those first few practices in pads will be very telling.
The offensive line will make or break this season, which Macdonald expects to cap with a Super Bowl victory. Macdonald said he’s most excited to see his offense run the ball well this year, and that starts up front.
“We want to play our style of ball, let the O-line do their thing, get Sam on the move, separate the defense, all those things,” he said. “It’s fun to watch these guys put it together and how they drill it, go from individual (periods) to group and how it all fits together, all the rules. It’s really exciting.”
