Everyone knows Pete Carroll loves competition. And John Schneider loves COMPetition — working free agency so he ends up with compensatory draft picks the next year.
He has done it in four of the past six years — and he got three extra selections today when 2020 picks were announced. But is it really a game worth playing? Has Schneider found any diamonds in the rough with these extra picks?
Continue reading Will Schneider keep playing the comp game, despite little return?
John Schneider and Pete Carroll are smart enough to agree with the rest of us: Their biggest need this offseason is the pass rush.
“We’re looking to improve in some really critical areas. Pass rush is something that we’re really focusing on,” Carroll said at the Combine. “We really like the way we turned the ball over last year. We got the ball a lot, made some nice plays and stuff that gave us a chance, but we need to do some things more consistently — and that’s rush the passer.”
Continue reading Seahawks bosses agree: Pass rush is priority
“Yo @gregolsen88 welcome to the PNW!! TE room is going to be dangerous this year!!” — Will Dissly, welcoming Greg Olsen to the Seahawks
If Will Dissly and Greg Olsen are both healthy, the Seahawks will indeed be dangerous at tight end in 2020.
Imagine the matchup nightmares Dissly, Greg Olsen and Jacob Hollister could create for Russell Wilson. Forget a third receiver — these guys could help Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf take the top off defenses even more easily.
Of course, that is the best-case scenario.
Continue reading Olsen is insurance, but if he and Dissly are both healthy …
You have to be happy for Frank Clark, who has gone from tragedy to triumph over the past couple of years. Almost exactly two years ago, he sadly lost his father and other relatives in a Cleveland fire. Last year at this time, he said, “Let’s get this paperwork (i.e., contract) done so we (can) go on this hunt. I’m tired of the same results.” Well, the paperwork turned out to be trade papers and a new contract with the Chiefs, who gave him the $104 million Seattle would not. And then he got the different results he wanted by helping the Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV.
The lesson the Seahawks hopefully learned: It’s OK to pay a pass rusher top dollar. It might actually help you win a Super Bowl. They need to pay their top pass rusher, Jadeveon Clowney, this time.
John Schneider has a pretty well-known MO when it comes to trying to keep the Seahawks’ roster competitive for Pete Carroll: The GM is conservative in free agency and the draft, saving his big splashes for blockbuster trades.
However, given the resources at his disposal this year and the dire need to reformat the defensive line and fortify the offensive line, will Schneider be more aggressive?
John Schneider is living his own version of Bill Murray’s “Groundhog Day.”
A year ago, he had to decide whether to pay his best pass rusher. He didn’t, so now here he is again, in the exact same situation.
As the Seahawks entered last offseason off a terrible playoff loss in Dallas, their biggest need was to fortify their pass rush. Schneider didn’t want to pay $20 million a year to Frank Clark, though, so the GM made a move that was unprecedented for him: getting great draft value for a star in his prime.
Now, a year and another playoff loss later, Schneider is in the exact same spot — with Jadeveon Clowney now in Clark’s seat and Seattle still needing a second pass rusher as well because Ziggy Ansah did not work out.
Continue reading Will Schneider pay his top pass rusher this time? And who else?
(Updated 1/21) The Seahawks had been on an uphill climb for over a month, as injuries whittled their roster, so it was no surprise they finally succumbed, losing 28-23 in Green Bay to extend their losing streaks to nine games in Green Bay and on the road in the divisional round.
They certainly had their chance to win — especially if they had taken the first half more seriously. But, it probably was about as far as they could expect to get in a year in which they led the NFL in games lost to injury, at various points losing their starting tight end and center and their top three running backs while using six offensive line combinations and never really playing with a full deck on defense.
As the Seahawks return to John Schneider’s home state to face his first NFL team, it is a good time to give the general manager some credit for his recent work in Seattle.
In March 2018, we called out Schneider for a mostly poor five-year run that helped lead to a slow decline of the franchise — from Super Bowl champs, to Super Bowl losers, to playoff losers, to playoff watchers.
Schneider definitely had a rough 2013-16 — in the draft, trades and free agency — but he has been very aggressive the past three years while trying to make up for previous mistakes, to replace departed stars and to keep a competitive roster for Pete Carroll.
He did especially good work this year, helping the Hawks win 11 games despite the NFL’s highest injury rate. They would not have gotten this far if Schneider had not made three really good trades for veterans and found a few draft picks who were able to contribute as rookies.
The Seahawks know how to win on the road in the wild-card round, as they proved again in Philadelphia. Now the question: Can they overcome their winless record in road divisional playoff games?
Russell Wilson beat the Eagles’ pressure, thanks in big part to rookie D.K. Metcalf’s record-setting game, and the Seattle defense sacked Philly’s passers seven times in a 17-9 win that was a duplicate of their Week 12 meeting in score, if not in other ways.
The Seahawks improved to 3-5 in road playoff games, all of the wins coming in the wild-card round. It was their first playoff win since the 2016 season, 26-6 vs. Detroit at home, and sent them to the divisional round for the seventh time in Pete Carroll’s 10 seasons. (Who wanted him fired again?)
The Seahawks are in the playoffs for the eighth time in Pete Carroll’s 10 seasons, heading on the road for a wild-card game for the fourth time and aiming for their third win in such games.
They got here thanks to a top-10 offense and the league’s No. 3 team in turnover margin. But this club also has the worst defense by a Seattle squad since 2000 — Mike Holmgren’s second season (6-10 record).
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 