With Seahawks training camp kicking off later this month, Seahawks.com is counting down, in no particular order, 10 of the most intriguing storylines, position battles and players heading into the 2026 season. On Monday, we kicked things off with a look *at special teams, and the return game in particular*, and today we turn our attention to safety. Check back tomorrow when we look at cornerback.

Key Safety Additions: Bud Clark (second-round pick), Rodney Thomas II (free-agent signing) D'Anthony Bell (free-agent signing)

Key Safety Departures: Coby Bryant (signed with Bears).

The Seahawks were able to retain almost all of the defense that helped them win Super Bowl LX, but there were a couple of noteworthy departures, including safety Coby Bryant, the lone defensive starter from the Super Bowl who isn't back with the team for 2026.

But even though Bryant was a very good player who would be missed, losing a starting safety is hardly a death blow for the league's best defense. For starters, the Seahawks still have Pro Bowler and veteran leader Julian Love to help anchor the secondary, and they also return Ty Okada, who went from spending much of his first two seasons on the practice squad to becoming a bigtime playmaker in 2025. After appearing in just nine games in his first two years, almost exclusively on special teams, Okada started 11 games last season, nine in place of an injured Love, and two in place of Bryant. In his first season as a part-time starter, Okada produced 52 tackles, six passes defensed, three tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, and a spectacular interception that was one of the team's defensive highlights of the season.

There is also, of course, Nick Emmanwori, who is coming off a spectacular rookie campaign as a do-everything chess piece that helped make Mike Macdonald's defense go. Emmanwori is listed as a safety, though he spent most of last season as a versatile nickel defender who did everything from cover receivers and tight ends in the slot to set the edge and rush on the edge to play like an off-ball linebacker to, on occasion, dropping into a more traditional safety role. While Emmanwori could in theory play more safety this season, his and the defense's success last season suggests he'll continue to play nearer the line of scrimmage with two full-time safeties starting behind him.

And that brings us to the question of whether or not anyone is able to push Okada for the starting job alongside Love. Love’s versatility, not to mention his willingness to play whatever spot most benefits the defense, gives Macdonald, defensive coordinator Aden Durde and company plenty of options with how they want to configure their secondary. In other words, whoever takes over the vacant starting job, be it Okada or someone else, doesn't not have to play the position like Bryant in order to fill that vacancy. In fact, when Bryant missed time last season after Love returned from his hamstring injury, it was Love covering Bryant's spot with Okada playing Love's role, as he had for much of the first half of the season.

Given how well he played last season, Okada figures to open camp as the favorite to be the starter opposite Love, but he will face competition for that spot. Most notably, the Seahawks used a second-round pick on Bud Clark, a playmaking safety out of TCU who had 15 interceptions over the past four seasons. The Seahawks also signed Rodney Thomas II in free agency, adding a player who started 25 games in his first two seasons with the Colts. They also brought back D'Anthony Bell, who spent most of last season in Seattle before being claimed off waivers late in the year, and have AJ Finley coming back from an injury that cost him all of last season. Finley, who first joined the team as a waiver claim in 2024, may not be a household name, but it's worth remembering that he was pushing Okada for the No. 3 safety role last season before suffering a knee injury in camp. The Seahawks also have Maxen Hook back after he spent part of last season on the practice squad.

In other words, there are a lot of options to replace Bryant in the starting lineup, including Okada, who started more than half of last season, as well as Clark, a second-round pick with a ton of upside. Bryant's impact on the team and on the defense over his four seasons in Seattle should not be overlooked, by any means, but the Seahawks are in pretty good shape to weather that loss thanks to the talent and depth at that position.