Tag Archives: John Schneider

Contracts, The roster

Safeties ‘n’ numbers

1 Comment

Salary cap logoBoth of Seattle’s star safeties are at career crossroads — one seemingly talking about walking out, the other about holding out.

The short of it: Yeah, it looks like Kam Chancellor is done, but Earl Thomas is not going anywhere.

Chancellor’s Instagram post Friday was seen by most as a message that he is leaning toward retiring — or at least not playing again. Unlike Cliff Avril, he has been silent about his neck injury, but all signs point to the No. 1 Legionnaire of Boom likely being finished.

The only question has been whether he would make the team put him on injured reserve so he could collect his injury guarantees, which amount to $12 million over the next two years.

Meanwhile, there is no question that money is at the heart of Thomas’ concerns. Late in the season, he started rumbling about his contract and possibly playing for Dallas. This week, at the Pro Bowl in Florida, he doubled down on the contract talk with a subtle threat of a holdout.

Continue reading Safeties ‘n’ numbers →

Coaches, State of the team

Report: Allen was ready to chase big names if Carroll retired

Leave a comment

Rams Carroll Sept. 13“People talking about retirement. I ain’t old enough to think about retiring.” — Pete Carroll

On the last game day of the season, Jay Glazer reported Pete Carroll was contemplating retirement. Carroll quickly shot down that report with the above quote, but it turns out there was a little more to it.

A week before the season ended, Paul Allen apparently asked Carroll what he was thinking, and Carroll assured his boss he was “all in” on building the Seahawks back up.

According to Davis Hsu, the sneakily sourced Seahawks Twitter champion, Allen was worried Carroll would retire and was ready to go “big game hunting” to replace him. If Carroll had said he was going to retire, Allen apparently would have gone after Jon Gruden, Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban.

Also, if Carroll had retired, John Schneider would have left for Green Bay, per Hsu. But Carroll wanted Schneider to stay with him, so Allen formally blocked the Packers from talking to Schneider.

Carroll, 66, is signed through 2019, and it’s possible he decides to retire after that. With the big coaching shakeup he has performed this week, he is either trying to finish strong or build up another five-year playoff run.

Coaches

Schneider’s staying, but other staff changes could be coming

1 Comment

Draft -- Schneider and CarrollThere was lots of scuttlebutt — real and perhaps imagined — around the Seahawks’ football staff over the weekend.

John Schneider is staying, Gus Bradley might be returning and the Seahawks also might be looking for a new offensive coordinator and/or assistant head coach.

The Seahawks rebuffed the Packers’ request to interview Schneider, leading to speculation that the Packers might try to trade for him. But that was quickly quashed when the Pack stayed in-house to replace Ted Thompson.

Continue reading Schneider’s staying, but other staff changes could be coming →

Franchise history, Trades

Will Hawks & Pack trade another GM?

Leave a comment

John Schneider draftingAre the Seahawks and Packers about to engage in another deal involving a football boss?

In 1999, the Seahawks sent the Packers a second-round pick for Mike Holmgren, who became Seattle’s coach and general manager. Among the former Packers personnel guys Holmgren hired early in his Seattle tenure was John Schneider, who then bounced back to Green Bay in 2002 and returned to Seattle to join Pete Carroll in 2010.

Now, 19 years after that Holmgren trade, the Packers reportedly are trying to get Schneider back for a third stint with the team.

The Seahawks reportedly turned down the Packers’ request to interview Schneider, so the story is over unless: (1) Schneider really wants to go back to Green Bay and (2) the Packers want to give up a draft pick or two for him.

Continue reading Will Hawks & Pack trade another GM? →

Contracts, State of the team, The roster

Thomas bracing for departure, but Hawks will pay him

3 Comments

Earl in DallasEarl Thomas is creating a lot of negative-energy waves as this season winds down. To some, it might seem like he is trying to build up a trade tsunami.

But it’s just Earl being Earl — the Pro Bowl safety who wears his heart on his sleeve and sometimes puts his foot in his mouth. And you can expect him to be a happy camper, with feet firmly on the ground, again as soon as John Schneider gives him another contract extension in the coming offseason.

Thomas’ contract — which has one year left — clearly is on his mind, and he seems to be bracing for Seattle to trade him in 2018 or lowball him and force him to go play somewhere else in 2019.

Continue reading Thomas bracing for departure, but Hawks will pay him →

Contracts, Trades

Schneider should tag-and-trade Sheldon

2 Comments

John Schneider (via Fresh Files)John Schneider has not been afraid to make bold gambles with the Seahawks’ roster — Percy Harvin, Jimmy Graham and Sheldon Richardson being prominent examples. As the 2018 offseason approaches, he has a chance to make another one.

Richardson figures to command a hefty contract on the open market, and he and the Jets reportedly are interested in a reunion — just months after the Jets traded him to Seattle for a second-round pick and Jermaine Kearse (and a swap of seventh-rounders).

Schneider could shrug and let the defensive tackle go, content to look forward to the third-round comp pick Seattle likely would get in 2019 — a partial offset for that trade. Or Schneider could be a lot more devious and daring, if he felt he could manipulate the situation to Seattle’s advantage.

Schneider has not used the franchise tag since his first year in Seattle, 2010, when he retained kicker Olindo Mare. But he should consider it for Richardson. And then trade him.

Continue reading Schneider should tag-and-trade Sheldon →

Contracts, The roster

Looking ahead to 2018

8 Comments

Salary cap logoWith playoff hopes slim for the Seahawks, and a Super Bowl hardly a consideration even if they do make the postseason, many people already are looking ahead to 2018.

Some overreactive fools are suggesting the Seahawks blow up the entire team, fire Pete Carroll, trade Russell Wilson and get rid of every defender over 30. That’s complete silliness, obviously.

Carroll and Wilson have presided over the greatest era of Seahawks football — a six-year run that has included 64 wins, five playoff appearances, two Super Bowls and one NFL title. Yeah, it has been a relative disappointment ever since Carroll’s botched XLIX decision — the potential dynasty fizzled out with that huge gaffe.

But these guys have plenty left.

Continue reading Looking ahead to 2018 →

Contracts, The roster

Head-scratching moves by Carroll, Schneider

Leave a comment

Salary cap logoPete Carroll and John Schneider have made some head-scratching decisions this week.

First, Carroll made a string of admitted errors that helped his team lose at home to Atlanta on Monday. And now Schneider is backstepping on a key move he made a few weeks ago, dropping Dwight Freeney because the Seahawks decided they can no longer afford him.

Schneider chose to drop the productive 37-year-old pass rusher because the Hawks suddenly ran into a big injury storm — losing Richard Sherman and possibly Kam Chancellor for the season. Schneider could have gone to another vet, perhaps Bobby Wagner, for some cap relief. But, the Hawks had 11 defensive linemen and Dion Jordan has played well in his two games, so Schneider decided to lop one of his few luxury players.

Continue reading Head-scratching moves by Carroll, Schneider →

Franchise history, State of the team, Week 9: Washington

Seahawks are always scrambling on offense

2 Comments

Logo -- WashingtonThe Seahawks say they aim to be the best scrambling offense in the NFL — so it figures that’s what they’re doing this week: Scrambling once again to fix their offense.

The trade for Duane Brown, an excellent if belated move to shore up left tackle, and the decision to ride one running back are steps that should have been taken long ago. These moves at this late date are emblematic of Pete Carroll’s offense: They never seem to have a good plan.

Continue reading Seahawks are always scrambling on offense →

Contracts, The roster, Trades

Schneider had to be ready for backfire

Leave a comment

Salary cap logoJohn Schneider was ready for this. He had to be.

He knew it was possible — if not probable — that Jeremy Lane could fail his physical. After all, Lane suffered yet another injury Sunday.

Seattle’s trade filed Tuesday indicated a conditional fifth-rounder going to Houston, and the condition probably was Lane passing his physical. Schneider and Houston GM Rick Smith probably wrote in the upgrade to a third in that case, which is how Seattle ended up giving up a 2018 third-rounder and 2019 second and getting back a 2018 fifth along with Duane Brown.

The bigger issue now is cap space: With Lane’s $2.1 million staying on the books, the Seahawks have around $500,000 in room — even after Russell Wilson signed off on a simple restructure to accommodate Brown’s remaining $5 million.

Continue reading Schneider had to be ready for backfire →