As the end of March approaches, it is almost time for teams across the NFL to begin their offseason programs.
Teams that have new head coaches for the 2026 season, such as the NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals, can begin Phase I of their offseason program next Monday on April 6. However, teams that did not hire a new head coach for the 2026 season must wait another two weeks before they are eligible to start their offseason work. This group includes the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, who handily
defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX to bring home the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
To that end, one of the questions for the offseason is the health of second year receiver Tory Horton, whose strong start to his rookie season ended in a trip to injured reserve, where he spent the remainder of the 2026 campaign. Now, with the offseason program looming, at the league meetings in Arizona, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald provided some insight into Horton’s recovery progress.
So, while Horton, “should be” ready for training camp, missing the development that fully participating in the offseason program brings is certainly not great for a youngster who missed significant practice reps as a rookie. That said, how much one wishes to read into a potential difference between Macdonald’s use of “should be” versus “will be” is exactly the type of hair splitting that there is plenty of time to address during the offseason, so it’s likely off to the comments to pass a little bit of the three weeks between now and the draft.
As noted in John Boyle’s post, in addition to the insight shared on Horton’s progress, Macdonald also noted that the team expects Zach Charbonnet back at some point during the season, one he passes a physical. This certainly solidifies the expectation that Charbonnet will spend training camp and start the season on the physically unable to perform list, barring a miracle over the next five months.
