While the World Cup final plays out in New Jersey on Sunday, football of the American variety quietly returns to the Pacific Northwest on Thursday. Seahawks rookies report to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on July 17, making Seattle the first team in the NFL to open training camp, as defending Super Bowl champions do every year. Here is what the seahawks rookies report means for a franchise beginning its title defense with a giant hole in the backfield.
Why the Champions Report First
The NFL requires the Super Bowl champion and the team playing in the Hall of Fame Game to report earlier than the rest of the league. Seattle, having won Super Bowl LX in February, gets rookies in on July 17 and veterans shortly after, while most teams do not open until the league-wide deadline of July 28. The extra days give the coaching staff a head start on installing the playbook, evaluating new additions, and beginning the long ramp toward the September 9 opener against New England, a Super Bowl LX rematch we preview in our Week 1 schedule guide.
The Kenneth Walker Hole
The headline of Seattle’s offseason is the departure of Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs for $43.05 million over three years, as we broke down in our contract analysis. Walker’s 161 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Super Bowl defined the championship, and replacing that production is the single biggest challenge of camp.
Seattle’s answer starts with rookie Jadarian Price, their first-round pick at No. 32 overall on a four-year deal worth $16.8 million. Price, a compact, explosive runner out of Michigan, profiles as a three-down back with the receiving skills that Mike Macdonald’s offense demands. Camp will reveal how quickly he can handle a full workload at the NFL level, and whether the Seahawks’ backfield committee behind him is deep enough to weather a 17-game season. For how rookie contracts are structured, see our rookie wage scale explainer.
Other Rookies to Watch
Beyond Price, Seattle’s draft class includes several players competing for immediate roles. The defensive line additions will be tested early, as the Dark Side defense that carried the championship run lost depth pieces in free agency. Any rookie who earns a special-teams role secures his roster spot, since special teams is where young players prove their value during the cutdown from 90 to 53 players, a process we explain in NFL roster cuts.
The Bigger Camp Picture
Seattle’s early start means the league’s first real football news of the offseason will come from the Pacific Northwest this week: who looks sharp, who is nursing a minor injury, and whether the defending champions’ energy has carried from February to July. The Hall of Fame Game teams, the Panthers and Cardinals, report on July 22, and the full league follows by July 28. For all 32 report dates, see our training camp dates guide, and for how the Seattle championship compares to the franchise’s first title, our 2013 vs 2025 Seahawks breakdown has the full comparison.
What Comes Next
Rookies report Thursday. Veterans follow within days. The first padded practices arrive roughly a week later, and from there it is a six-week sprint to the season opener. The World Cup may own this weekend, but as of Thursday morning, football season is officially here. Full camp coverage at NFL.com.
