SEATTLE — When he was introduced as a Seattle Seahawk the day after his acquisition from New Orleans last November, Rashid Shaheed said he’d hoped he had found his long-term home.

“I’m here to stay,” said Shaheed, who was available, in part, because he was in the final season of his contract and it had become clear he was likely not staying in New Orleans.

Seattle, he said, was a place he hoped he could plant some roots.

“I’m excited to see if we can figure something out after the season ends,” he said.

Shaheed repeated that stance a few more times as he contributed heavily to the Seahawks winning 10 consecutive games to end the season, culminating in a 29-13 win over New England in the Super Bowl.

The dimming of the emotion of the moment and what may be a hotter market for his services than anticipated — because of what he meant to the Seahawks down the stretch — appear to mean he may not make his long-term home in Seattle.

A report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday stated that: “Shaheed is said to not be close to an extension with the Seahawks and the expectation is that he now will test the free agent market Monday, per sources.”

Shaheed was acquired on Nov. 4 in exchange for a fourth- and fifth-round pick in the NFL draft in April.

The Seahawks were reported to have had to up their offer — apparently adding a second pick to the package — to match an offer from the Pittsburgh Steelers and get Shaheed, who was said to have preferred to come to Seattle.

The Seahawks had been considering making a move for Shaheed all season. Their urgency to make the trade increased when rookie Tory Horton was lost for the season with a shin injury in early November.

Shaheed replaced Horton as the team’s deep threat to “take the top off the defense,” as well as a kickoff and punt returner.

He returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the regular season — most memorably a punt return that sparked a comeback from a 16-point deficit against the Rams in December — and returned the opening kickoff of the divisional-round playoff game against the 49ers for a TD to spark a 41-6 win.

Shaheed’s numbers in the passing game were a little more muted than some might have anticipated — 15 receptions for 188 yards (with a long of 33) and no touchdowns in nine games.

But his presence helped open things up for other receivers, and the Seahawks spoke after the season of hoping Shaheed would return in 2026.

“We’d love to have him back,” general manager John Schneider said last week at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

When asked about Shaheed’s future with the team, Schneider sounded the same warning he did about all of the team’s pending free agents.

“We’ll find out this week,” Schneider said, noting that the team would meet with the agents of all of the players who could become unrestricted free agents. “We’re down here trying to talk to everybody and get a feel for what the spring is going to look like, and he knows we’d love to have him back.”

Shaheed, 28, made $4.2 million combined in 2025 with the Saints and Seahawks and has made $7.73 million for his four-year NFL career after entering the league as an undrafted free agent, according to OvertheCap.com.

He figures to get a contract that could double that total in one season.

Pro Football Focus lists Shaheed 26th on its list of potential free agents and projected he could command a three-year deal worth up to $42 million, with $24 million guaranteed. Some think Shaheed could get more in the wake of the Super Bowl run and his impact on special teams.

“Shaheed’s free-agency stock was already looking solid while he was with the Saints before the trade deadline, but his run of excellence in the postseason for the Seahawks may have raised his price tag,” PFF wrote. “The speedster is a kick-return threat (87.4 PFF return grade, third best) and hasn’t dropped any of his 90-plus targets this season.”

Shaheed is one of nine Seahawks players who can become unrestricted free agents next week, able to begin negotiating with other teams on Monday morning and sign deals with new teams on Wednesday.

He could also re-sign with the Seahawks at any time. But Schefter’s report indicates that won’t happen and Shaheed will test the market.

That doesn’t mean the door will be shut on a return, but as PFF noted, he figures to have a strong market and could well be off the board by Monday.

The Seahawks had $54.89 million in effective cap space as of Wednesday afternoon, according to OvertheCap.com.

The Seahawks have a number of offseason objectives that will eat into that quickly, including leaving enough for extensions for receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and cornerback Devon Witherspoon — who each have one year left on their contracts but are likely to get new deals at some point before the start of the regular season — as well as re-signing some of their own free agents.

Smith-Njigba, who was the AP’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2025, said in a recent interview: “I believe I deserve to be the highest paid in my position,” which would mean a deal topping $40 million a year.

Witherspoon likely may want a deal at the top of the cornerback market, or in the range of $30 million per year.

The Seahawks have veteran Cooper Kupp set to return in 2026. Kupp is due to make $13.5 million in 2026 with $9 million in salary becoming guaranteed on Feb. 13.

The Seahawks anticipate Horton being back in 2025 and picking up where he left off when he was sidelined following a 38-14 win over Washington on Nov. 2. Horton, a fifth-round pick out of Colorado State in the 2025 draft, had 13 receptions for 161 yards and five touchdowns before he was injured. He also returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown against the Saints in September.

The news about Shaheed arrived as a few other NFL analysts have said that the Seahawks appear likely to lose a few of their free agents.

That will likely mean getting a few compensatory picks — which are awarded via a formula to teams that suffer a net loss of free agents — for 2027.

It’s too early to definitively say Shaheed has played his last down with the Seahawks. But if he has, he undoubtedly will forever remain a key part of the legacy of the 2025 Super Bowl champs.

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