News Seahawks Team Notes

[Seattle Seahawks]

Cooper Kupp, the Seahawks, and effectively fully guaranteed money

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 25: Cooper Kupp #10 of the Seattle Seahawks catches the ball during the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on January 25, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jane Gershovich/Getty Images) | Getty Images

For most, the Friday after the Super Bowl marks the start of the first weekend of the long, dreadful period of life known as the offseason.

During the offseason there is football related news, as fans hype themselves up for the coming season, expressing optimism in the players added in free agency and the draft, while downplaying the contributions and importance of those lost to other teams.

For the Seattle Seahawks, though, the Friday after the Super Bowl is a date which is critical to the contract structure the team uses to walk a fine line that gives players the financial guarantees they are looking for while skirting the funding rule of the collective bargaining agreement.

For those unfamiliar with the funding rule, it is Article 26, Section 9 of the 2020 CBA and reads as follows:

Section 9. Funding of Deferred and Guaranteed Contracts: The NFL may require that by a prescribed date certain, each Club must deposit into a segregated account the present value, calculated using the Discount Rate, less $15,000,000 (the “Deductible”), of deferred and guaranteed compensation owed by that Club with respect to Club funding of Player Contracts involving deferred or guaranteed compensation; provided, however, that with respect to guaranteed contracts, the amount of unpaid compensation for past or future services to be included in the funding calculation shall not exceed seventy-five (75%) percent of the total amount of the contract compensation. The present value of any future years’ salary payable to a player pursuant to an injury guarantee provision in his NFL Player Contract(s), shall not be considered owed by a Club under this Section until after the Club has acknowledged that the player’s injury qualifies him to receive the future payments. The $15,000,000 Deductible referenced in the first sentence of this Section 9 shall apply to the 2020-28 League Years only. This Deductible shall increase to $17,000,000 for the 2029-30 League Years.

That’s a whole lot of legalese, so what it boils down to is that if a team owes fully guaranteed salaries in excess of $15M in future league years, the league can require that the amount of those fully guaranteed salaries less $15M be deposited into escrow.

Thus, the funding rule combined with the frugality of Seahawks ownership, explains why the team has long eschewed giving players fully guaranteed salaries past the first year of the player’s contract. This has been standard practice for the Seahawks under John Schneider since early in his tenure.

So, rather than give fully guaranteed salaries past the first year of a contract, Seattle signs contracts that include effectively fully guaranteed money in the second year of their deals, with those effectively full guarantees vesting into full guarantees shortly after the season ends. This gives the players the guarantees they are looking for, while saving the Seahawks from depositing the second year salaries of players into escrow.

For example, when Seattle acquired Percy Harvin from the Minnesota Vikings, his six-year, $67M contract included $25.5M guaranteed. Of that $25.5M in guarantees, $14.5M was made up of a $12M fully guaranteed signing bonus, $2.5M of fully guaranteed 2013 base salary and the final $11M consisted of an injury guaranteed 2014 base salary that would vest into being fully guaranteed the Friday after Super Bowl 48, a game many readers likely remember watching.

In any case, with the Seahawks set to take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 in eight days, the Friday after the Super Bowl is just fourteen days away as of publication, and many of the contracts John Schneider has signed with bigger named players since the end of the 2024 season include this exact same structure of vesting guarantees.

Specifically, those players and the amounts of 2026 base salary which are set to become fully guaranteed the Friday following the Super Bowl are:

• Sam Darnold: $17.5M
• Cooper Kupp: $9M
• Abe Lucas: $6.956M
• Ernest Jones: $5M
• DeMarcus Lawrence: $5M
• Jarran Reed: $2M

So, for fans who have been predicting that Kupp will become a cap casualty for the second offseason in a row, the clock is ticking because once the Friday after the Super Bowl arrives the cap savings the Seahawks would recognize from moving on from Kupp shrink to just $500k.

Source: https://www.fieldgulls.com/seattle-...ahawks-use-effectively-fully-guaranteed-money

 

[Seattle Seahawks]

Super Bowl 2026 preview: How the Seahawks can attack the Patriots defense

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 16: Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak of the Seattle Seahawks on the sidelines during a 21-19 Rams win in the NFL 2025 game between Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Super Bowl is where every tendency is magnified, every rule is tested, and every weakness is hunted. That’s why this week’s episode of The Hawks Eye Podcast felt like a must — not just another preview, but a true film-room conversation built for the biggest stage in football.

I’m joined by Coach Derek of All-22 Film to break down how the Seattle Seahawks can attack the New England Patriots defense in the Super Bowl, focusing on the Patriots’ base looks, sub packages, and the structural rules that define how they play. This isn’t about predictions or narratives. It’s about understanding the chess match that decides championships.

New England’s defense is built on adaptability. They can line up in base and play heavy, shift seamlessly into sub, disguise coverage post-snap, and generate pressure without selling out. That versatility is exactly what makes them dangerous — and exactly why preparation matters more in this game than any other.

“From a roster standpoint on the defensive side, they have certain guys they want to use on run downs, certain guys they want to use on pass downs, but they do a really nice job of it,” Coach Derek said. “That’s just a reality of it at the NFL level because of the limitations of roster building and such. Even though they’ve got a quarterback with a low salary structure, there’s going to be players on your roster that you know are are far down the numerical ranking system, but you’re going to need them to play. And I think the Patriots do a really great job of preparing for certain looks by your offense and then trying to take something away.

“They’re very multiple in my opinion, but again, they do it from different sub packages.”

With Coach Derek, we dive into how the Patriots structure their fronts, how their coverage shells evolve after the snap, and how offenses can stress their rules by forcing early declarations. In a Super Bowl, you don’t wait for answers — you force them. Formation, motion, splits, and personnel usage all become weapons when used with intent.

From a quarterback’s perspective, this episode lives in the pre-snap world. We talk through how Seattle can identify indicators, manipulate alignments, and control the tempo of the defense before the ball is ever snapped. Against a unit like New England, late answers lead to negative plays. Early clarity leads to efficiency.

“Darnold’s going to get information, not just play call. He’ll be prepped on the various looks,” Coach Derek noted.

“Regardless of formation, Kubak is going to tell Darnold, what they’re in. Probably at the end of the play call, but it could be in the beginning. Who knows? Basically, this isn’t going to be left for Darnold to figure out on the field. He’ll be provided with that. And so he’ll have an idea of those tendencies while they’re leaving the huddle and lining up.”

What I love about this conversation is how grounded it is in reality. We connect All-22 concepts directly to what fans will see on the broadcast copy: Why a motion triggers rotation, why a certain front changes gap integrity, why one snap looks calm and the next looks chaotic — even though the defense hasn’t technically changed. Coach Derek provides several real plays from the Patriots and Seahawks to break it all down.

This is Super Bowl football at its purest. Preparation. Structure. Execution.

If you want more than hot takes — if you want to understand how Seattle can dictate terms against one of the most disciplined defenses in the league — this episode is for you.

That’s always been the mission of The Hawks Eye.

Stay Loud. Be Proud. Go Hawks.

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Source: https://www.fieldgulls.com/seahawks...view-how-seahawks-can-attack-patriots-defense