DeMarcus Lawrence is riding off after one more lap. The Seahawks pass rusher told Yahoo Sports that the 2026 season will be his 13th and final year in the NFL, closing out a career that just added a Super Bowl to the shelf.
Lawrence had every reason to walk in February. He won Super Bowl LX in his first Seattle season and made his fifth Pro Bowl at 34. Most veterans would have taken that as a mic drop and gone home.
Instead, he ran it back. “Through the grace of God, I’m able to play another year and soak it all up one more good time before I hang it up,” Lawrence said. That is the tone of a player who knows the ending is written and just wants to live inside the season.
The context is worth remembering. Lawrence spent 11 years in Dallas, watched the Cowboys let him walk in March 2025, and signed with a Seattle team that ended up hoisting the Lombardi. Micah Parsons publicly doubted him on the way out. That aged badly.
Even in Dallas, Lawrence never got the star-hunter attention Ware and Parsons pulled in. He just kept producing, held up as a run defender, and turned into the veteran voice in the locker room. The Cowboys chose to move on. Seattle cashed the check.
Now Seattle gets one more season with a locker room leader playing on borrowed time. Lawrence still posted 53 tackles, six sacks, 20 quarterback hits, and multiple forced fumbles a year ago while starting all 16 games. He is not limping toward the finish line.
Retirement talk usually leaks in the middle of a bad season, when the body is barking and the losses are piling up. Lawrence is announcing his in August, after a title, with a full season still in front of him. He is basically giving teammates 17 games to send him out the right way.
Mike Macdonald picks up a built-in motivational lever without having to invent one. Every young pass rusher in that room gets a season to soak up the last snaps of a five-time Pro Bowler before the door closes.
The NFL is losing a legit edge defender at the end of this year. Seattle gets to enjoy him first. Whoever draws the Seahawks in January should probably send an apology note in advance.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
