The Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions. But that’s not all: Seattle has what it takes to become the next NFL dynasty. This is partly because they have a characteristic that is unusual for a champion. The Seattle Seahawks are the Super Bowl champions of the 2025 season. But while the last confetti is being cleaned up, it’s worth taking a look at the future in Washington State. Because it looks bright – partly because there are some parallels to 2013, when the Seahawks last won the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Cap space? Seattle Seahawks could outmaneuver the NFL system

Most of the time, teams that end up hoisting the coveted trophy have one thing in common: the NFL system. the league “punishes” successful teams in order to prevent dynasties as much as possible. However, the Seahawks have a whopping $73 million at their disposal for the coming season.
This not only allows them to extend the contracts of top stars such as Kenneth Walker and Rashid Shaheed, but the Hawks can even spend good money in the free agency period beginning in March.

Of course, there’s no getting around the poor draft position on the West Coast, but whether it’s 27th or 32nd is almost “irrelevant” in the end. Especially since many of the Seahawks’ draft picks were selected on day two.

Seattle Seahawks: The near future looks bright

Seattle has been on the cusp of a potential dynasty before. In 2013, the Seahawks won the Super Bowl for the only time to date.

Then as now: a supposedly cheap quarterback – even if the cap hit will rise from $13.4 million to $37.9 million in 2026 – a young, hard-hitting defense and an absolute superstar on offense. What Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch were back then, Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are today.

And the defense? Back then it was the “Legion of Boom,” today it’s the “Dark Side.” Both units carry their teams and are their figureheads. For most of the mainstays, it will still be a while before their (potential) top contracts come into play.

Back then, the team reached the Super Bowl again in 2014, but then failed in 2015 and 2016 against the then-dominant Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, who were almost unstoppable.

NFL dynasty? In the end, it all comes down to the quarterback

However, in order to truly build such a dynasty, you need consistently strong and consistent performances at the quarterback position. There’s no way around it. At least if you look at previous franchises that can call themselves dynasties.

The Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes, the New England Patriots with Tom Brady, the Dallas Cowboys with Troy Aikman, the San Francisco 49ers with Joe Montana, and the Pittsburgh Steelers with Terry Bradshaw. All of them are multiple Super Bowl champions and (future) Hall of Famers.

Can Darnold do the same? It’s unlikely, but by no means impossible. He wouldn’t be the first late bloomer in NFL history. The best example is Kurt Warner, who could have built a dynasty with the Los Angeles Rams back in the day – before the Patriots came along.

The parallels to 2013 are there, the defense is intimidating again, and this time the Seahawks even have huge cap space. If Sam Darnold delivers and never sees ghosts again, the current team could become the next NFL dynasty. The “12s” have every reason to be optimistic.