The confetti has barely settled in Seattle, but even Super Bowl champions have to turn the page. Contracts expire. Agents call. March creeps closer. And in the middle of it all stands Seattle Seahawks wide receiver and return ace Rashid Shaheed, smiling, reflective, and candid about what he wants next. If it were up to him, the story wouldn’t end here.
Seattle WR Rashid Shaheed Speaks Candidly on What’s Next Ahead of Free Agency
There is something poetic about a midseason trade that changes everything. Shaheed came to Seattle from the New Orleans Saints as a speed option and special teams weapon — useful, but not necessarily a cornerstone. He wasn’t supposed to be the main character. And yet.
In nine regular-season games with the Seahawks, Shaheed caught 15 passes for 188 yards and added 7 carries for 64 more. The numbers are good but not incredible. What they don’t fully capture is the feeling — the way the stadium shifted when he touched the ball, the way a return could swing a game from anxious to amazing in a matter of seconds.
He returned both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns during the regular season, and Seattle went 8-1 with him in the lineup. In the playoffs, he opened the divisional win over the San Francisco 49ers with a kickoff return touchdown. A week later, against the Los Angeles Rams, he hauled in a 51-yard catch that flipped momentum early.
It’s hard to quantify timing. Harder still to quantify trust. But Seattle felt different with him on the field.
So when Shaheed appeared on NFL Network this week and was asked about his future, he didn’t hedge. So when Shaheed appeared on NFL Network this week and was asked about his future, he didn’t hedge.
“Absolutely, yeah,” he said on NFL Network about the possibility of returning, per Pro Football Talk. “Conversations are definitely going to be heating up towards March. But you know, I would love to come back. I loved my experience here, I’m loving the Pacific Northwest, and obviously the organization is second to none. I kind of want to run it back. We just won the Super Bowl, so, you know, why not?”
It wasn’t corporate. It wasn’t calculated. It sounded like someone who found a place to fit. Of course, feelings and free agency don’t always share the same playbook. Seattle’s front office faces a delicate balancing act. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III will also be a free agent, as are defensive backs Coby Bryant, Josh Jobe, and Riq Woolen.
Shaheed’s 71.9 grade on PFSN’s WR Impact Metric shows what Seattle already knows: his influence is beyond receptions. He shortens drives. He changes how defenses align and how special teams units breathe before a snap.
The Seahawks can’t keep everyone — that’s the unromantic truth. But sometimes, the best sequels start with mutual interest.
