Lead
The Seattle Seahawks will send six players to the NFC roster for the 2026 Pro Bowl Games, the team announced Tuesday after a 12-3 start to the 2025 regular season that clinched a playoff berth and put Seattle atop the NFC West. The selections include Sam Darnold, DeMarcus Lawrence, Rashid Shaheed, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Devon Witherspoon and Leonard Williams, with four named as starters. The Pro Bowl events will be held during Super Bowl week, featuring a 7-on-7 flag football contest on Feb. 3 in San Francisco ahead of Super Bowl LX in nearby Santa Clara. The roster reflects a mix of recent signings, midseason trades and homegrown first-round talent that helped power Seattle’s breakout season.
Key Takeaways
- Six Seahawks were named to the NFC Pro Bowl roster: QB Sam Darnold, OLB DeMarcus Lawrence, KR Rashid Shaheed, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, CB Devon Witherspoon and DT Leonard Williams.
- Four Seahawks—Shaheed, Smith-Njigba, Witherspoon and Williams—were selected as Pro Bowl starters for the NFC.
- Seattle began 2025 by winning 12 of its first 15 games, clinched a playoff spot and leads the NFC West heading into the postseason.
- Smith-Njigba leads the NFL with 1,637 receiving yards through 15 games, a single-season franchise record by more than 300 yards; he also has 104 receptions and 10 receiving touchdowns.
- Darnold, in his first year with Seattle, completed 67.2% of passes for 3,703 yards, 24 TDs and 13 INTs, with a 100.6 passer rating and four game-winning drives.
- Witherspoon earned a third straight Pro Bowl nod; his 2025 totals include 64 tackles, six passes defensed and one interception through 15 games.
- Shaheed is the only player in the NFL this season with both a kickoff and a punt return touchdown; he had a 100-yard kickoff return (Wk 14) and a 58-yard punt return (Wk 16).
- Lawrence has 46 tackles, 5.0 sacks, 10 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles, plus two fumble-return touchdowns in the Week 10 win over Arizona.
Background
The Seahawks entered 2025 with significant roster changes, adding veteran pieces like Sam Darnold and DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency and acquiring Rashid Shaheed in a midseason trade. Seattle prioritized bolstering both the offensive passing game and defensive front after trading long-time starter Geno Smith to Las Vegas in the offseason. The front office also leaned on recent draft capital: Devon Witherspoon and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, both 2023 first-round picks, have become core contributors. Those moves were designed to accelerate a rebuild into immediate contention and, by midseason, the team’s 12-3 start showed the strategy paying off.
Pro Bowl recognition traditionally combines fan, player and coach voting; this year’s iteration will be notable because the league has folded Pro Bowl activities into the Super Bowl week schedule for the first time, staging a 7-on-7 flag football game in San Francisco on Feb. 3. That shift aims to spotlight more players during the championship window, but it also creates availability questions for players on competing teams. Historically, Seattle has had strong Pro Bowl representation in peak seasons — the franchise has fielded multiple multi-player Pro Bowl teams in the past three decades, tying this year’s total with several previous rosters.
Main Event
The Seahawks’ six selections were announced Tuesday as part of the NFC roster reveal. The list mixes recent acquisitions—Darnold and Lawrence signed as free agents in early 2025 and Shaheed arrived via a midseason trade—with established contributors from Seattle’s 2023 draft class and a veteran interior lineman in Williams. Four players were named starters: Rashid Shaheed on special teams, Jaxon Smith-Njigba at wide receiver, Devon Witherspoon at cornerback and Leonard Williams on the defensive line.
Sam Darnold’s first season in Seattle has been statistically strong: a 67.2 completion percentage, 3,703 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and a 100.6 passer rating through 15 games. His 8.7 yards-per-attempt and 13.0 yards-per-completion both lead the league, and he has engineered four fourth-quarter or overtime game-winning drives, including the decisive sequence in Seattle’s Week 16 victory over the Rams. Darnold’s 12-3 ledger this year follows a 14-3 season with Minnesota in 2024, making him the first QB to win 12 or more games in consecutive seasons for two different teams.
On defense, Leonard Williams continues to anchor Seattle’s interior, sharing the team lead in sacks (7.0) while leading with 22 quarterback hits and nine tackles for loss. DeMarcus Lawrence has provided edge pressure and playmaking, totaling 5.0 sacks, 46 tackles, two forced fumbles and 10 tackles for loss; his two fumble-return touchdowns in Week 10 were a turning point in that win over the Cardinals. Devon Witherspoon’s third straight Pro Bowl nod reflects a breakout start to his career—through 15 games he has 64 tackles, six passes defensed, an interception and a fumble recovery, plus impactful plays that don’t always show on the stat sheet.
Rashid Shaheed’s special-teams explosiveness is unique this season: he is the only NFL player with both a kickoff and a punt return touchdown in 2025, a 100-yard kickoff return in Week 14 against Atlanta and a 58-yard punt return in Week 16 versus Los Angeles. Beyond returns, Shaheed has contributed offensively, including two catches that set up a game-winning field goal against Indianapolis and a 31-yard rush that helped spark the comeback against the Rams.
Analysis & Implications
Seattle’s six Pro Bowl selections underline how roster construction—combining veteran signings, midseason trades and high draft picks—can accelerate a team’s competitive window. The mix of newcomers and young core players suggests the Seahawks are not only competitive now but have pieces that can sustain success. Offensively, Smith-Njigba’s league-leading receiving yardage and Darnold’s efficient downfield production have converted offseason investment into top-tier output. That pairing makes Seattle a matchup problem for many defensive schemes and raises the ceiling for the team in playoff seeding and potential postseason wins.
Defensively, the additions of Williams and Lawrence have balanced Seattle’s front, providing interior power and edge rush threats that free up Witherspoon to play more aggressively on the perimeter. Williams’ and Lawrence’s pressure metrics (sacks and quarterback hits) have been pivotal for Seattle’s turnover creation and short-field opportunities for the offense. Witherspoon’s role as a three-year standout at cornerback stabilizes the secondary and contributes to a defense that ranks among the league’s best units in 2025.
The Pro Bowl selections also have roster-management implications. With the Pro Bowl moved into Super Bowl week, players from teams that advance deep into the postseason may be unavailable, and alternates or replacement players could be named. For Seattle, the recognition enhances player market value ahead of contract windows and could influence offseason priorities—retaining key veterans and allocating cap resources to keep the current core intact.
Comparison & Data
| Year | Seattle Pro Bowl Selections (initial vote) |
|---|---|
| 1984 | 7 |
| 2007 | 6 |
| 2013 | 6 |
| 2014 | 7 |
| 2015 | 7 |
| 2016 | 7 |
| 2017 | 7 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2026 | 6 |
The six selections for 2026 tie for the second-highest single-season totals in Seattle history when measured by the initial vote, with multiple teams producing seven Pro Bowlers in peak years (1984, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020). Only a handful of Seahawk teams reached six or more in the original balloting; earlier squads in 2007 and 2013 also recorded six initial selections. These comparisons show that 2025’s performance ranks with some of the franchise’s best seasons for individual recognition.
Reactions & Quotes
Coach Mike Macdonald emphasized Witherspoon’s intangible impact on the defense when discussing his Pro Bowl selection, pointing to the playmaker’s role beyond counting stats.
“He’s part of the engine that makes the whole thing go. He’s probably the sparkplug behind the whole thing.”
Mike Macdonald, Seahawks head coach
Macdonald also singled out Lawrence’s highlight plays as game-changing moments that lifted the unit and energized the roster during the season.
“That forced fumble — probably my new favorite play of all time — flipped the momentum in that game and showed what he brings week to week.”
Mike Macdonald, Seahawks head coach
Unconfirmed
- Final Pro Bowl participation: players currently selected may be replaced if they are injured or if they play in Super Bowl LX; the roster could change before the Feb. 3 games.
- Starter designations can be ceremonial in the flag-football format and may not reflect exact snap counts or on-field roles during Pro Bowl events.
Bottom Line
Seattle’s six Pro Bowl selections reflect both short-term success and a longer-term plan coming together: veterans added in free agency and via trade have paired with homegrown talent to produce an NFC-leading start and wide individual recognition. Smith-Njigba’s historic receiving numbers and Darnold’s efficient passing have given the offense a top-tier identity, while Witherspoon, Williams and Lawrence have anchored a defense that creates pressure and turnover opportunities.
As the Seahawks move into the postseason, Pro Bowl recognition is both an honor and a practical consideration: player availability for the Feb. 3 events will depend on injuries and postseason scheduling. For the franchise, the selections validate front-office decisions in 2024–25 and set expectations for roster moves aimed at sustaining contention in the coming seasons.
Sources
- Seattle Seahawks team announcement (official team source)