SEATTLE — After outlasting the rival Los Angeles Rams to reach his franchise’s fourth Super Bowl, coach Mike Macdonald uttered four words that iconically encapsulated the Seahawks’ season.

You know which ones. Standing on a hastily assembled stage, Fox analyst Michael Strahan asked on Jan. 25: “Coming into the season, you were an afterthought to the Rams, to the 49ers. How does it feel to go through both of those teams to earn your trip to the Super Bowl?”

“We did not care,” Macdonald coolly countered, prompting an eruption of laughter and applause.

More than four months later, the Super Bowl champion Seahawks are not an afterthought.

They’re not NFC West or Super Bowl favorites, either.

Maybe they still don’t care. Maybe it doesn’t matter. But that title rightly belongs to the Rams, who traded for two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett on Monday. Longtime LA general manager Les Snead sent four draft picks to Kansas City for premier cornerback Trent McDuffie this offseason as well.

Per FanDuel Sportsbook, the Rams have the NFL’s best odds (+550) to win the Super Bowl — followed by the Baltimore Ravens (+1000), the Buffalo Bills (+1000) and then the Seahawks (+1000). It’s both silly and unsurprising that the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks, who retained most of their roster and coaching staff, trail two East Coast darlings with poster quarterbacks. Their league-leading point differential last season, +191, is better than that of the Bills (+116) and Ravens (+26) combined.

If that part irritates the 12s, I can understand why.

But as for the top spot?

The Rams have indisputably improved. I’m not sure the Seahawks can say the same.

Which, considering their three matchups last season were decided by seven total points, matters. Seahawks president of football operations and general manager John Schneider — the reigning NFL executive of the year — deserves credit for largely retaining Seattle’s core. Of the 79 players featured on the championship banner hung in the Seahawks’ practice facility last month, all but 10 are still with the team.

Most notably, the Seahawks re-signed wide receiver and returner Rashid Shaheed and cornerback Josh Jobe. They replaced departing players at running back (Kenneth Walker III out, Jadarian Price and Emanuel Wilson in), safety (Coby Bryant out, Bud Clark and Rodney Thomas II in), cornerback (Riq Woolen out, Julian Neal and Noah Igbinoghene in) and edge (Boye Mafe out, Dante Fowler Jr. in).

But are there substantial upgrades at any single spot?

The Seahawks hit solid singles. The Rams hit home runs.

At least, that’s what it looks like. But Schneider and Macdonald both deserve the benefit of the doubt. Considering their ability to spin undrafted free agents and practice-squad standouts into core contributors, and to win with special teams and fit and scheme and devastating depth, it’ll take more than a splashy offseason to unseat the Seahawks.

The return for Garrett, the NFL’s premier pass rusher, included two-time Pro Bowl edge Jared Verse and three draft picks.

Garrett is worth the gamble. The first overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft has made the Pro Bowl in six of the past seven seasons and set an NFL record with 23 sacks in 2025. At 6 feet 4 and 272 pounds, he’s been both dominant and durable, appearing in 16 or more games in five consecutive seasons. And since being drafted, he’s led the NFL in sacks (125.5), pressures (413) and tackles for loss (149). He agreed to a four-year, $160 million extension last offseason.

But the Rams have rarely cared about the cost.

This is who they are, and what’s allowed them to consistently contend. Before winning a Super Bowl in the 2021 season, LA traded two first-round picks, a third-round pick and quarterback Jared Goff for Lions signal caller Matthew Stafford. They previously dealt two first-round picks and a fourth for two-time Pro Bowl corner Jalen Ramsey as well.

In 11 drafts between 2016 and 2026, the Rams made just three first-round picks: Goff in 2016, Verse in 2024 and quarterback Ty Simpson this spring. The first two were traded for established stars.

Suddenly, the Rams tout reigning league leaders in touchdown passes (Stafford), passing yards (Stafford), receptions (Puka Nacua), receiving touchdowns (Davante Adams), sacks (Garrett) and tackles for loss (Garrett). This is not an accident. It’s a pile of transactions and departed draft picks.

Some organizations build sustainable contenders by drafting, developing and extending homegrown stars. The Rams do so by treating picks like Monopoly money, forfeiting draft capital — and their future — for a chance to win now.

Give Snead and coach Sean McVay credit: the Rams’ way works. Since McVay arrived in 2017, LA is 92-57 with seven playoff appearances, four NFC West banners, two Super Bowl trips and one title in nine seasons. The Rams keep winning, while the rest of the league waits for them to carom off a cliff.

For now, at least, the cliff isn’t coming. The Rams are Super Bowl favorites, as they should be.

But they don’t hang banners for blockbuster trades. And this time a year ago, the Seahawks were an afterthought, which worked out pretty well.

So, let LA have the headlines. It’s safe to assume Macdonald doesn’t care.

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