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Contracts, Free agency

Hawks used over $35M in cap space and don’t look any better

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By the end of the first day of the new league year, the Seahawks had used over $35 million in salary cap space to address four of their six positional needs – and they still didn’t look like they had improved their roster.

After free agents flew off the shelves in the first two days, we thought John Schneider might be preparing to make a trade to improve his roster. Instead, he stuck to his typical MO and overpaid role players who gradually ate up almost all of Seattle’s cap space.

There certainly were good moves. The Hawks accomplished their top priority: keeping Leonard Williams. They also kept their starting tight end, Noah Fant; found a safety, Rayshawn Jenkins, to start opposite Julian Love; and added insurance at right tackle by bringing back George Fant.

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Contracts, Franchise history, Free agency

Will Williams be a rare trade extension win for Schneider?

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John Schneider has not been very lucky with a lot of his big trade acquisitions, but he is betting – as he had to – that Leonard Williams will become the second successful extension out of the five he has made since 2010.

The Seahawks sent a 2024 second-round pick and 2025 fifth-rounder to the New York Giants for Williams last October, and they managed to re-sign him on Monday to a three-year deal worth $64.5 million.

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The roster, Trades

Schneider ‘tired’ of trade criticism, but Adams was his worst bust

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Jamal Adams’ long anticipated release this week ended the worst trade/signing of John Schneider’s 14-year tenure in Seattle.

We actually had written off Adams 18 months ago, when he suffered a season-ending quadriceps injury in the 2022 season opener against Russell Wilson and the Broncos. So, for us, his release this week was just the official word on what we expected to happen ever since that Monday night game.

This is the result some feared from the day in July 2020 that Schneider sent two first-rounders and more to the Jets for the All-Pro safety. Those people hated the trade and dreaded the extension that was soon to come, suspecting it would be a waste of money. They were right.

Schneider still defends the deal as the way to go amid the pandemic in 2020. He is annoyed that people are criticizing the trade, which cost Seattle the 23rd and 86th picks in 2021 and the 10th pick in 2022.

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NFL Combine, The roster, Trades

Smith reportedly won’t be traded, but will Schneider draft a quarterback?

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John Schneider apparently did not find much trade interest in Geno Smith at the Combine – at least that’s the conclusion we are drawing from a report that the Seahawks have told Smith he will be on the roster in 2024.

Per NFL insider Jordan Schultz, “The Seahawks have informed Geno Smith he will be on the roster in 2024 under his current contract. I’m told Smith has received commitment from Seattle’s front office.”

That is something that had seemed in doubt this week as both Mike Macdonald and Schneider had indicated no firm commitment to the 33-year-old quarterback.

But, based on the Schultz report, Smith seems set to start for a third season in Seattle. That doesn’t preclude the Hawks from making other moves at the position, of course.

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NFL Combine, Trades

‘The starter until he’s not’: Is a trade viable?

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“That’s a tough question, and it’s one that I probably can’t answer right now.” – Mike Macdonald on whether Geno Smith and Drew Lock will be on the team

Mike Macdonald seemed to answer the question raised by the Seahawks’ conversion of Geno Smith’s bonus last week: A trade is not off the table.

In an interview aired Sunday, KCPQ’s Aaron Levine asked the new coach, “Are Geno Smith and Drew Lock both involved in the future of this team going forward?”

Macdonald said, “That’s a tough question, and it’s one that I probably can’t answer right now. We’re doing a lot of work on those guys.

“Right now we’re in the phase of figuring out who they are. Obviously one or two or both would fit into our plan moving forward, but right now I probably don’t have that answer for you.”

At the Combine two days later, John Schneider also was noncommittal, saying Smith is “the starter until he’s not.”

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Contracts, Free agency, NFL Combine

Why pay Geno now? The Combine is coming

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Just a few days after Geno Smith’s 2024 salary became guaranteed, the Seahawks made a mildly surprising move to give him even more guaranteed money, converting his March roster bonus into a pay-now bonus to add $4.8 million in cap space.

Why did they decide to pay the $9.6 million now, three weeks before the league year begins and 25 days before it was technically due?

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The roster, Trades

Is a Geno trade coming?

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Geno Smith is still the Seahawks’ quarterback, but there certainly are signs that he might not be for a whole lot longer – if John Schneider gets a trade offer he likes.

It was no surprise Smith was still on the roster as of Feb. 16, which triggered the guarantee on his $12.7 million salary. That means he will be Seattle’s QB in 2024 — unless another team trades for him.

Where does this trade talk come from all of a sudden? Directly: From Adam Schefter. Indirectly: From Mike Macdonald and new OC Ryan Grubb.

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Coaches

Hawks are following Dan Quinn’s hiring trends; will it work for them?

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The Seahawks might not have hired Dan Quinn as their coach, but John Schneider and Mike Macdonald sure took a couple of pages out of his coaching manual as they selected Macdonald’s coordinators.

The obvious tie is new DC Aden Durde, who worked for Quinn in Atlanta from 2018 to 2020. He now becomes the first British-born defensive coordinator in NFL history, and Macdonald surely is counting on his teaching abilities to help fix Seattle’s front seven. More on him later.

The more intriguing – and significant — hire is OC Ryan Grubb, who oversaw UW’s high-octane offense the past two years. There is a crazy Quinn-UW-Alabama triangle going on with this move.

The Hawks have to hope it works out better for them than it did for Quinn’s Falcons a few years ago or for most of the teams over the past 20-25 years that have tried to elevate a college play caller with no prior NFL experience.

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Contracts, The roster

History says Geno will lead the Hawks to the playoffs in 2024, then be replaced

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If history is any predictor, Geno Smith will lead the Seahawks to the playoffs in Mike Macdonald’s first season – and then be replaced shortly thereafter.

John Schneider has been involved in a new Seattle coach’s transition period with a lame-duck quarterback twice before and been instrumental in finding the franchise quarterback both times.  

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Free agency, The roster

Cap situation, roster breakdown as Macdonald takes over

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New Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald knows he is not walking into a locker room bereft of talent.

In his first presser Thursday, Macdonald said, “There (are) a lot of great players on this team. We’ve done a great job of drafting. It’s a young core. We’ve got a great opportunity to build a really competitive team sooner than later.”

That jibes with what John Schneider said in his presser after Pete Carroll was fired: “I think it’s a young, talented team that feels like it’s right on the cusp. … I think it’s a great core. I think we’re a very attractive job because of that. I think there’s young talent all over the place.”

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