Category Archives: NFL draft

Free agency, NFL draft, The roster

What we want to hear from team bosses

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We will finally hear from John Schneider and Pete Carroll, at noon Wednesday, and you can bet they will be at their snarkiest – considering they (hopefully) are going to be asked about a lot of things they don’t really want to talk about.

A lot has happened since we last heard from Carroll in early January. And, because there was no Combine or in-person owners meetings, we haven’t heard from Schneider yet this offseason.

We put together 20 questions we would ask them about this offseason, starting with a couple of easy ones before hammering them with the tough stuff about Russell Wilson, Aldon Smith, Jarran Reed, etc.

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NFL draft

What to expect from Seattle in this draft

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Click the logo for our packed draft page.

We’re a week away from what is likely to be one of the least consequential drafts in Seahawks history, but you know John Schneider will do everything he can to make it a lot more interesting than it has any right to be.

In the end, you know he will be a lot more involved than his three current picks, the smallest draft stock in the league, indicate he will be.

It’s usually pretty hard to predict what the Hawks will do in the first round – as we all know, they tend to overdraft players who struggle to contribute. But we can look at Schneider’s trends and the makeup of this draft and make an educated guess about what he might do April 30 and May 1. So here we go …

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NFL draft

Seattle started this draft last year

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DRAFT COUNTDOWN: 3 weeks. A weekly look at draft-related topics involving the Seahawks. Make sure to check out our draft page.

Plenty of people – especially amateur draftniks — are wringing their hands over Seattle having just three picks left for the NFL selection meeting at the end of the month.

The Seahawks have the least draft capital in the league, per Football Perspective, and apparently the third-lowest pick value in the past 21 drafts. So this could be the least important draft in John Schneider’s tenure.

But, as Schneider surely will remind everyone when he speaks later this month, he already has used five of his picks to draft four guys – and three of them are expected to be major contributing starters for at least the next couple of years.

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NFL draft

Which drafts mattered more?

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The draft is always an important roster tool, simply because it ideally brings cheap talent and helps create a core. But some drafts are more important than others. Here we rank John Schneider’s drafts, from most to least significant (based on draft capital and needs, not results):

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NFL draft, The roster

Can Seahawks find ‘Surefire’ QB this year?

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The Seahawks seem destined to move on from Russell Wilson, but it looks like it might not be this year — unless Wilson is willing to go to Miami or Philadelphia.

Adam Schefter reiterated this morning that the Seahawks are still open to dealing the star QB if they could secure a “surefire quarterback solution.” That has been the line since mid-March, but that “surefire” replacement seems very elusive at this point.

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NFL draft

This draft is in Seattle’s corner

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DRAFT COUNTDOWN: 4 weeks.  A weekly look at draft-related topics involving the Seahawks. Make sure to check out our draft page.

John Schneider and Matt Thomas have done a very good job of resetting Seattle’s veteran roster over the past couple of weeks, and attention now can turn toward the draft – less than four weeks away.

The Seahawks have just three picks at the moment (rounds 2, 4, 7), but you can expect Schneider to pull off some of his trade magic and bump that to at least five (even if most of them are on Day 3). We recently went through some options for how he could do that (although we unfortunately can scratch Jarran Reed from bringing any draft value).

This draft appears to be strong at the three spots the Seahawks still need to improve: cornerback, wide receiver and center.

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NFL draft, Trades

It’s draft month: Will Wilson stay or go?

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Don’t let Tyler Lockett’s cool extension fool you: It doesn’t change anything regarding Russell Wilson’s situation. And all eyes will be on the quarterback now that draft month is here.

The Wilson trade chatter certainly has died down since Pete Carroll and John Schneider turned down the Bears’ offer just before the league year began. The Seahawks have since reloaded the offense with Gabe Jackson, Chris Carson and Gerald Everett and created a strong pass rush with Carlos Dunlap, Kerry Hyder and Benson Mayowa. And, of course, Lockett just re-upped for four more years.

Many of those moves have been cheered by Wilson, and Carroll apparently is “hearing” Wilson’s concerns and has communicated with him. Mike Silver of NFL Media said on March 22: “There does seem to be now a tenuous peace and a sense that, ‘Hey, we’ll move forward and at least try this for one more season.’”

That seems the likely direction, but some national reporters (and the Bears) are not ready to say Wilson is staying in Seattle – not until the draft has come and gone. And the fact that the Seahawks have decided to use void years rather than restructure Wilson and Bobby Wagner indicates the team is not sure Wilson is here for the long term.

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NFL draft

How Schneider could try to add more picks

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The official NFL draft order was released Friday, leading many fans to worry anew about the Seahawks’ lack of draft picks: They have a league-worst 0.9% of the total draft capital.

Some think John Schneider has basically punted on this draft after a pandemic-ruined college season and pre-draft period.

As Brady Henderson confirmed in December, Schneider did indeed make the big trade for Jamal Adams last summer because he knew this draft would be a bigger guessing game than usual. And he obviously was desperate to add a good guard (Gabe Jackson) to appease Russell Wilson. Those two deals cost a 1, 3 and 5. The 6 was traded in last year’s draft to move up for Stephen Sullivan, who is now in Carolina. So, Seattle has just a 2, 4 and 7 left at this point.

But, if you know Schneider, you know he will find a way to get back in the draft. After all, he has never had fewer than eight picks and is famously adept at moving down to add more selections.

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Franchise history, NFL draft, Trades

Schneider’s future should depend on Adams & Taylor

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The spotlight is on Seattle’s GM this week as the Seahawks and Jamal Adams face the Jets and Darrell Taylor’s future remains a mystery.

John Schneider’s job security, quite frankly, should depend on two things: Whether he re-signs Adams and whether Taylor ever plays. If neither happens in 2021, the last year of Schneider’s deal, the GM should not be re-signed.  

This is not just about the two big moves to get those guys this year — deals that cost the Seahawks five high draft picks. It’s about a GM who has had a lot more failures than successes over the past seven years, who is still living off his historic 2010-12 drafts, who has whiffed at the top of his last eight drafts way too often, who rarely makes good decisions in free agency, who is not very creative with the salary cap and who for several years has been making it up as he goes, with no long-term plan.

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NFL draft, The roster

Cheap Hawks swapped Thomas & Clark for 3 pass rushers and a guard

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Draft logo 2020Once upon a time, the Seahawks had the NFL’s top-paid players (or close to it) at three defensive positions, along with the No. 2-paid quarterback.

In 2019, they made Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner the league’s top-paid QB and middle linebacker — but they have not been interested in paying anyone else in that stratosphere since 2017, when they gave Kam Chancellor another top-three deal.

They didn’t want to pay Earl Thomas and Frank Clark in 2019, and they don’t want to pay Jadeveon Clowney this year.

Basically, they don’t want to pay elite pass rushers. So they used Thomas and Clark to draft a few. And, like it or not, they are counting on those swaps to work out.

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