HEADLINES

Derick Hall

Seahawks Unlikely To Retain Boye Mafe

October 30th, 2025 at 1:08pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

After a quiet start to the season from Boye Mafe, the Seahawks fourth-year edge rusher seems likely to leave Seattle this offseason.

Mafe was the No. 40 overall pick in the 2022 draft and started three games as a rookie. He took over a full-time role in 2023 and recorded 15.0 sacks across his next two seasons. This year, however, he has just two quarterback hits, one tackle for loss, and zero sacks in seven games and a 62% defensive snap share.

As a result, Mafe is “not trending toward a lucrative second contract,” according to Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. Obviously, his performance this year would preclude an in-season extension, but Dugar’s words suggest that he is not likely to be re-signed by the Seahawks this offseason, either.

Seattle has a few reasons to move on from Mafe. He was drafted in 2022 when Pete Carroll was still the team’s head coach. Now, Mike Macdonald is in charge, and teams typically turn over their rosters in the first few years of a new regime.

The Seahawks also have depth at edge rusher into next year. DeMarcus Lawrence signed a multi-year deal this offseason, and both Uchenna Nwosu and Derick Hall are under contract in 2026 as well. Lawrence and Nwosu have outproduced Mafe this season, but Hall has taken a step back after his eight-sack breakout last year. It still seems likely that Seattle will keep Hall for the final year of his rookie deal, and Nwosu’s five sacks in six games this year could save him from being a cap casualty next spring.

Mafe could also be somewhat expensive. His pressure rate is slightly down relative to his last two years, but his pass rush win rate is about the same, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He could be due for some positive regression later this season, which would boost his stock heading into free agency. His 2023 and 2024 production won’t be forgotten by teams in need of pass-rush help, either.

Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker Back For Week 4

September 28th, 2024 at 5:15pm CST by Ely Allen

Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker was off to a hot start in Week 1 with 103 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries before leaving the game with an oblique injury. He’s been out ever since, but according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the third-year rusher will make his return to the field in Week 4.

Since Walker’s departure, Zach Charbonnet has stepped in as the lead back in Seattle. He struggled in his first start of the season, amassing only 38 rushing yards on 14 carries but saved the performance with a touchdown, as well as five catches for 31 yards through the air. Last week, he showed RB1 potential with a 91-yard, two-touchdown performance.

While Walker is returning to the field, it might be in the Seahawks’ best interest to slow-play his comeback. The team will obviously want to get Walker involved in the offense, but if they feel confident with the body of work Charbonnet has put forth thus far, they may continue to give Charbonnet a good number of carries until they’re certain Walker is 100 percent.

Walker’s return is obviously good news, but unfortunately, it comes alongside the announcement that four defensive players will be unavailable this coming Monday. Per Brady Henderson of ESPN, defensive tackles Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy and outside linebackers Uchenna Nwosu and Boye Mafe have all been ruled out for Week 4. Williams, Nwosu, and Mafe have been starters so far this year, while Murphy has played a strong rotational role on the line.

Nwosu has missed Seattle’s first three games with an MCL sprain and is not yet ready to come back. The other three all suffered injuries in last week’s matchup with the Dolphins. Murphy suffered a hamstring injury, Williams hurt his ribs, and Mafe aggravated a previous knee issue. The Seahawks will attempt to use Mike Morris and Myles Adams to fill the holes on the line, while Derick Hall and Dre’Mont Jones should fill in at outside linebacker.

Seahawks Sign Round 2 LB Derick Hall

June 6th, 2023 at 4:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks now have two of their top three draft picks under contract. Edge rusher Derick Hall joined Jaxon Smith-Njigba in signing his four-year rookie deal. While the Smith-Njigba deal will not end up affecting others drafted in the same neighborhood, Hall’s will likely play a bigger role in rookies’ negotiations this year.

Hall’s through-2026 pact comes with three years fully guaranteed and $100K guaranteed in the fourth year, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The deal will also pay 85% of Hall’s signing bonus before training camp, which Pelissero notes is a first for a second-rounder. This agreement leaves only No. 5 overall pick Devon Witherspoon and second-round running back Zach Charbonnet as Seattle’s only unsigned draftees.

Chosen 37th overall, Hall is the highest second-round pick to sign this year. This marks the second straight year in which the No. 37 overall pick stands to influence other teams’ structures for second-round contracts. The Texans gave last year’s No. 37 pick, safety Jalen Pitre, three years fully guaranteed, marking an improvement after the 2021 draft saw the No. 34 overall pick represent the cutoff line for such terms. While rookie contracts are less complicated compared to the days before the landscape-reshaping 2011 CBA, second-rounders’ negotiations present some wiggle room.

Hall’s deal figures to influence the structures of the players taken before him in Round 2 — Joey Porter Jr., Will Levis, Sam LaPorta, Michael Mayer, Steve Avila — and agents representing the players chosen shortly after the Seahawks edge rusher will undoubtedly take notice as well. The cutoff line for three fully guaranteed years should be expected to move closer toward the middle of this year’s second round.

Hall wrapped the five-pick haul the Seahawks obtained from the Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade. The four first- or second-round picks from that deal wound up consisting of Charles Cross, Boye Mafe, Witherspoon and Hall. The Seahawks have made a concerted effort to bolster their pass rush over the past two years, selecting Maye and Hall after signing Uchenna Nwosu. They also signed ex-Broncos interior D-lineman Dre’Mont Jones to add punch to their interior rush.

An Auburn alum, Hall totaled nine sacks as a junior and 6.5 as a senior. In that time, he compiled 24 tackles for loss. Scouts Inc. viewed Hall as a considerable reach for Seattle, ranking the 254-pound edge-rushing prospect 66th overall. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah also did not have Hall as a top-50 prospect. The Seahawks have consistently made early-round picks not in line with pre-draft boards, as the Rashaad Penny, L.J. Collier and Jordyn Brooks picks illustrate. They did so again with Hall, who should at least provide rotational rush support as a rookie.