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Seahawks' Demarcus Lawrence returned for Year 13 to see how it feels to have 'the dot on our back' | Latest NFL News, Analysis & Updates | NFL.com

Demarcus Lawrence, after initially considering retirement following Super Bowl victory with Seattle Seahawks, has decided to return for his 13th NFL season.

First seen Aug 08, 2026 · 10:00 PM UTC · last updated Aug 09 7:01 AM

Scoring Zone's Take

Demarcus Lawrence's decision to return for a 13th season with Seattle is a mild positive for roster stability, but it carries essentially no fantasy relevance for standard-format leagues. Lawrence is an edge defender, and unless you're in an IDP (individual defensive player) league, his snap counts, sacks, and pressures don't feed into your scoring at all. For those in IDP formats, this is a clean, low-risk piece of draft prep information: a proven veteran pass rusher is confirmed to be on the roster and presumably healthy enough to keep playing, coming off a championship season with a defense that clearly valued him enough to want him back.

For draft purposes, if you're in an IDP league, you can pencil Lawrence in as a depth/rotational option worth monitoring through camp — his age (entering year 13) means workload and snap-share are the things to track once padded practices and preseason reports start rolling in, since that will tell you whether he's still an every-down player or trending toward a situational rusher role. In standard, non-IDP leagues, this is purely a "no action needed" item — don't spend a roster spot or draft capital on him regardless of format sentiment around Seattle's Super Bowl-winning defense.

Confidence here is high; both sources agree on the outcome with no speculative language, so there's no need to hedge on the retirement reversal itself. The only real uncertainty going forward is workload/role, which isn't addressed in these reports and will need to be confirmed via camp news before you finalize IDP rankings.

Seahawks' Demarcus Lawrence returned for Year 13 to see how it feels to have 'the dot on our back'

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald discusses how the team will manage expectations following their Super Bowl LX win on "Inside Training Camp".

Seahawks pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence said shortly after returning for a 13th NFL season that the chances he'd ride off into the sunset following Seattle's Super Bowl LX victory had been "very slim."

It turns out his decision was a bit more difficult.

Lawrence, who welcomed his sixth child less than 24 hours after defeating the Patriots on the game's biggest stage, was initially considering trying out the next phase of his life before the pull of an NFL season from a whole new vantage point reeled him back in.

"I kind of had my mind made up that if I won, I was done," Lawrence said Friday, per the team website. "But I kind of had a bittersweet feeling in my heart, understanding that with the type of team that we have, we should have been where we were last year. This is where the hard part begins and staying on the top."

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Lawrence spent his first 11 seasons on the Cowboys, making it to four Pro Bowls and six postseasons, but never reigning over the league by year's end.

In his first foray with Seattle, his fifth all-star season, Lawrence played a pivotal role in winning it all. He logged six sacks -- his second-highest total this decade -- with 53 tackles, 20 QB hits, three fumbles forced and three fumble recoveries, two of which he remarkably returned for scores. Lawrence forced another three fumbles and had an additional pair of sacks during the Seahawks' run to a Lombardi Trophy.

After taking time to ponder his next steps, Lawrence is fully bought in to helping Seattle repeat, but it won't be easy.

Even just looking at the NFC West, Seattle's opponents pulled out all the stops to even the playing field. The Rams transformed their defense, trading for the new single-season sack king, Myles Garrett, and cornerback Trent McDuffie. Speculation that Aaron Donald might come out of retirement to rejoin Los Angeles has only grown. The 49ers signed six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans and brought back players who originally became stars with San Francisco, Deebo Samuel and Dre Greenlaw.

Such big swings made the division harder to predict, but clubs don't get trophies for being offseason champs. The Seahawks are the only team to receive Super Bowl rings in the past couple months.

Their rivals know it, and they're on a mission to prevent Seattle from doing it again. That's all part of the draw for Lawrence.

"They say it's no fun when the rabbit has the gun," he said. "We're the ones with the dot on our back. So I just want to see how that feels. See the different obstacles that we can overcome. How are we going to stay together in those tough moments throughout the season and just be a part of this brotherhood once more."

Coverage from Nfl Dot Com News · by Bobby Kownack · Aug 08, 2026 · read original