Tag Archives: John Schneider

Contracts, The roster

No more big deals on Hawks’ horizon

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Salary cap logoBobby Wagner’s signing pretty much ends Seattle’s big-money deals for the foreseeable future. Now the Seahawks find themselves in wait-and-see mode, just like John Schneider and Pete Carroll’s early years in Seattle.

The Seahawks acquired and developed a lot of talent from 2010 to 2013 and were able to pay all of the top guys: Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, K.J. Wright, Russell Wilson, Wagner, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Doug Baldwin.

The Seahawks are still counting on Wilson, Wagner and Wright — all of whom got third contracts this year. But the team now needs to see which players, if any, become the next generation of stars in Carroll’s program.

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Contracts, The roster

Why Wagner and not Thomas & Clark?

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Training camp logo2The season is still over a month away, but the Seahawks already have tallied a bunch of W’s — Wilson, Wright and now Wagner.

With his $54 million deal, Bobby Wagner joined Russell Wilson ($140 million) and K.J. Wright ($15.5 million) as rare “keepers” for a Seattle club that has undergone some major changes over the past two offseasons.

The Seahawks were wise to hand third deals to all three W’s, but some wonder why they got paid and Earl Thomas and Frank Clark didn’t. Why pay a middle linebacker $18 million a year but refuse to pay your star safety and pass rusher, leaving you with no other established standouts on defense?

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Free agency, NFL draft, The roster, Trades

Hawks could have had Clark and Ansah, plus basically the same draft

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NFL draftWhat if we told you the Seahawks could have had Frank Clark, Ziggy Ansah and pretty much all of the same draft picks (just a different pass rusher) and still have room for more, like they do now?

A lot of people are buying Seattle’s claim that the Clark trade to Kansas City enabled Seattle to turn four picks into 11, in what looks to some like an ingenious draft for the ages. Pete Carroll called the trade “the key to kick-start this thing.” And John Schneider said, “That draft choice with Frank definitely helped us.”

But the reality is: Clark became L.J. Collier, and Schneider did what he always planned to do with pick No. 21 — flipping it over and over until it became a six-player pancake. One had nothing to do with the other. And, as much as we love to see an aggressive move from Schneider, he didn’t have to trade Clark to do anything he has done since that deal.

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NFL draft, The roster

Another volume draft, but what are the odds these guys stick?

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NFL draftJohn Schneider is getting all kinds of accolades for turning four draft picks into 11 last week, in keeping with his mantra that “the more picks you have, the better your chance of improving your team.”

That’s not necessarily true. And Schneider needs only look at his own team to see it. So, what are the chances of these new guys making this club — especially given recent history?

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Free agency, NFL draft, The roster

Phase 3: Hawks need veteran D-linemen

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Logo -- Free agencyThe Seahawks are usually very set with their roster by this time of the offseason, having already retained their key free agents, perhaps added a couple and then of course drafted.

But this year is different: They should be very active in the so-called Phase 3 of free agency, because they still have not improved their defensive line.

The Seahawks have ditched their top three pass rushers over the past two offseasons, and the only notable guy they have added to replace them is first-round pick L.J. Collier. And he alone will not add up to a Frank Clark, Michael Bennett or Cliff Avril.

Thankfully, Pete Carroll and John Schneider plan to do more.

“We talk about those phases of free agency,” Schneider said. “There’s basically like three or four different phases, and we’re basically now heading into Phase 3.”

“We’re very much involved with what’s coming up next,” Carroll said. “We’re not done. We’ve got work to do, and we’re excited about what’s coming up. You guys will see in time.”

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NFL draft, The roster

A look at roster after special-teams draft

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NFL draftWith two first-round selections in this draft, the Seahawks had a chance to be aggressive in trying to replace Frank Clark. Instead, they kept to their usual MO — drafting for volume, their “Seahawky” traits and development.

Pete Carroll already liked his roster and even had said rookies would have a tough time making the team. But that didn’t stop John Schneider from making seven trades and 11 selections in what basically amounted to a special-teams draft.

“We know a lot of these guys are going to be special-teams players; they’ve already done it, they’ve proven it,” Schneider said. “Some of them are projections, but the majority of them, we’ve seen them play on teams.”

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NFL draft

After 37, Schneider needs to trade up

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NFL draftJohn Schneider may be “back in the draft,” but he still has a bunch of maneuvering to do.

He has just two picks today and needs to try to turn that into three or four. You know he wants to, because he previously mentioned there is a big drop in talent from Round 3 to Round 4.

Seattle has selections 37 and 92 — along with four fourths, two fifths and a bevy of 2020 picks — and should be able to move around.

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NFL draft

Chasing picks, Hawks reached for Collier (but he could be worth it)

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NFL draftThe Seahawks never know what to do with first-round picks, so imagine the problem they had Thursday when they had two of them back to back and their only real goal was to expand the rest of their draft.

The Seahawks had two picks, and yet it felt like they had no plan for them — other than to bail out as much as possible to add more selections. And they didn’t do that very well either, failing to add a Day 2 selection (beyond the one their first-rounder became).

There’s a reason the Hawks usually trade out of the first round: When they stay, they typically use the pick on a second-round player anyway. They’ve now picked five players in the first round since 2011, and four of them have had second-round grades by most draft analysts. The Hawks have to hope L.J. Collier is a better version of Bruce Irvin (a first-round reach who had eight sacks as a rookie).

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NFL draft

Is secondary the primary draft target?

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NFL draftThe Seahawks seem locked in on finding a hybrid safety/nickel corner high in this draft.

It’s basically a starting position in the NFL these days, which explains why Justin Coleman got $9 million a year from Detroit. Coleman played in 63.5 percent of Seattle’s defensive snaps the past two years, and the Seahawks seem to be looking for his replacement in the second round.

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Contracts

Wilson did not want to play hardball

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Salary cap logoMark Rodgers wanted to play hardball with the Seahawks, and Russell Wilson did not.

From Peter King’s podcast: Rodgers, a baseball agent who is used to fully guaranteed contracts, was pushing the cap percentage idea for Wilson’s deal and wanted the quarterback to embrace the “play on the tag” strategy to try to force Seattle to go along with the cap concept.

But the Seahawks were not going for it. And, by the end, neither was Wilson.

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