Seahawks’ Byron Murphy II looking to build on breakthrough season

RENTON, Wash. – A month after helping carry the Seahawks to a win that gave the franchise the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history, Byron Murphy II thought for a moment he was carrying the real thing down the aisle at an even more personally momentous occasion – his wedding.

As the March wedding approached for Murphy and his fiancée, Maya Hurd, Murphy’s agent – Ron Slavin – told him there was a gift waiting.

Inside the package was a Lombardi Trophy.

“I was surprised, Murphy said this week. “He threw me for a loop, actually. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Murphy was led to believe it was the actual trophy the Seahawks were presented on the field following their 29-13 win over the Patriots in February.

“I’m thinking I’ve got the real one the whole time, so I’m even more turnt at the wedding,” said Murphy, who in photos published on social media is shown walking down the aisle with the trophy.

Alas, it was not the actual Lombardi Trophy handed to the Seahawks that night.

No matter.

“It was a great gift,” he said. “It really made the wedding much better.”

It was a fitting capper to a year in which Murphy not only got married and established himself as one of the best young interior defensive linemen in the NFL but also became a father.

Not that there weren’t some challenges along the way.

Murphy’s daughter, Danee’ Azaria Murphy, was born in October three months early, weighing just two pounds, five ounces.

Murphy spent most of the week before a game at Jacksonville at the hospital with his daughter and future wife, then responded with seven pressures to key a pivotal win over the Jaguars.

There were lots more nights at the hospital as his daughter remained in a neonatal intensive care unit until December before being released.

But mentions of his daughter now bring only smiles.

“She’s good, man,” Murphy happily told reporters Tuesday following the Seahawks’ first OTA (Organized Team Activity) of the spring. “She’s seven months now, getting big, growing a lot. Man, just the strides she’s made over time, it’s crazy. Such a blessing.”

Murphy laughs that he’s not even sure how much she weighs now.

“She’s fat, though,” he said. “She’s chunky.”

On the field, Murphy also grew in 2025 into becoming the player the Seahawks expected when they selected him as the 16th overall pick of the 2024 draft.

After missing three games because of a hamstring injury as a rookie – and playing a few more while still less than 100% – Murphy played all 17 in 2025, on the field for 70% of snaps, sixth most of any defensive player.

He tied with Leonard Williams and Uchenna Nwosu for the team lead in sacks with seven while garnering the 12th best pass-rush grade out of 112 interior D-linemen in the NFL from Pro Football Focus.

Typifying a day when the Seahawks did what they wanted against New England’s offensive front, Murphy recorded two sacks in the Super Bowl while also recovering a fumble that led to a TD in the fourth quarter. He also recorded five pressures, a performance that merited some talk that he could have been the game’s MVP (an award that went to running back Kenneth Walker III).

“Byron Murphy honestly is kind of the heartbeat of our defense and he’s just an unsung hero,” safety Julian Love said after the game.

If there was any disappointment in the season for Murphy it was in not being named to the Pro Bowl, despite a more-than-worthy resume.

Tuesday, he indicated he vows to change that in 2026.

Asked his goals for his third NFL season, Murphy said “I feel like I can take my game to a whole ’nother level. I did a lot last year, but I feel like I can get in that double-digit sacks, that area somewhere around there, hopefully shoot for All-Pro this year. I’m looking forward to all that this year.”

Asked where he thinks Murphy can improve, coach Mike Macdonald said: “The three-down pass rush plan for him, being able to rush from different spots, taking his pass rush to another level, which I actually thought was really good last year. But talk about a guy that has a process that he believes in and just does the daily inputs. I think that’s where he’s probably made the most strides in his game and where he’s at right now.”

A double-digit sack season in 2026 would put Murphy in line for what could be a new contract and a huge raise next year when he becomes eligible for an extension.

Since Murphy was a first-round pick, the Seahawks could also exercise an option on his contract for the 2028 season, which would almost certainly be good for more than $20 million (he’s making a guaranteed $16.083 million on his four-year rookie deal).

Even if they exercise the option, the Seahawks will likely try to lock up Murphy for the long-term, as they recently did with receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and are expected to soon do with cornerback Devon Witherspoon, each first-round picks in 2023.

The Seahawks will likely need to make Murphy among the 10-15 highest-paid interior D-linemen in the NFL to get that done, assuming he has a season in 2026 similar to 2025, which will be at the top of what could be a lengthy list of salary-cap challenges next year for the Seahawks.

For now, Murphy says his focus is on trying to get the Seahawks back to another Super Bowl, a task that starts with remembering not so much what happened that night in Santa Clara but the road the team traveled along the way.

“We have to keep reminding ourselves what did we do to get there to get to that point and how can we do it again if not better,” he said. “… We accomplished a lot last season but that’s behind us now, so we’ve just got to start back from the bottom, work our way up to the top, to get back to another Super Bowl.”