Tag Archives: John Schneider

Schneider: Hawks are better prepared for free agency this year

January 24, 2015 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider and his staff apparently messed up in free agency last year, thanks to the Super Bowl, and they aren’t letting it happen again.

That was the most significant message imparted Friday by the general manager, who shed no new light on the team’s position with Marshawn Lynch or Russell Wilson but indicated the team was not prepared enough for free agency in 2014.

Schneider seemed to indicate his staff underestimated the value of some of their free agents last offseason — Golden Tate and Clinton McDonald come to mind (although the Hawks will get compensatory draft picks for those two).

To avoid getting caught with their pants down this year, Schneider has already met with his pro personnel guys — Trent Kirchner and Dan Morgan — and they have a better bead on the market for their 15 unrestricted free agents.

Continue reading Schneider: Hawks are better prepared for free agency this year →

Contracts, Playoffs: Green Bay

He’s quiet, but Lynch sure generates a lot of noise

January 19, 2015 cc Leave a comment

For a guy as quiet as he is, Marshawn Lynch sure does make a lot of noise.

And he made a lot of it over the weekend.

It all started with a report Friday that he was going to wear $1,100 gold-plated cleats against the Packers, followed by a report Sunday morning that the NFL would not let him play if he did so.

As it turned out, he played in shoes that had blue and green tops and gold soles. And he made a lot of noise with them, running for a team playoff-record 157 yards and a touchdown in the 28-22 comeback win that vaulted Seattle into the Super Bowl for the second straight year.

It remains to be seen whether the No Fun League fines Lynch for the gold shoe bottoms — or for another crotch grab while scoring. Not sure why he insists on doing that — it’s such a teenage maneuver. But, hey, if Lynch wants to be a dick, that’s his choice.

Speaking of choices, another report Sunday indicated that the Hawks now are leaning toward keeping Lynch.

Continue reading He’s quiet, but Lynch sure generates a lot of noise →

Playoffs: Green Bay

Packers-Seahawks got interesting 15 years ago

January 14, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Newer Seahawks fans — and there are plenty of them — might think the Packers-Seahawks series consists of two games: the Hawks’ infamous Fail Mary victory on a Monday night in 2012 and Seattle’s 20-point win in the opening game of this NFL season.

But this series was full of great matchups back when Mike Holmgren and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck were leading the Hawks against their old team — led by Brett Favre — and this will be the 11th meeting, the third in the playoffs, since 1999.

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Contracts, The roster

All rainbows: Defense set to dominate through 2017

December 19, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Double rainbow at Seahawks headquarters — A double rainbow at Seahawks headquarters in Renton on Friday was quite apropos considering K.J. Wright and Cliff Avril got their pots of gold.

The Seahawks’ deals for Cliff Avril and K.J. Wright had been in the works pretty much all year, so it was no surprise they got them done before the end of the season.

It takes away the top two players from Seattle’s sizable 2015 free-agent list and means Seattle now has all but one starter from the league’s No. 1 defense under contract next year (two if you add Kevin Williams to Byron Maxwell).

Wright and Avril join Legion of Boom stalwarts Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, plus defensive lineman Michael Bennett, as the keys to a defense that could reign over the NFL through 2017.

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Contracts

How much will Bobby Wagner cost?

December 12, 2014 cc Leave a comment

“Him coming back has really changed our defense.”
— Michael Bennett, on Bobby Wagner

Bobby Wagner has been a major reason the Seattle defense has put the clamps on Arizona, San Francisco and — most impressively — Philadelphia over the last three weeks — and teammates are singing his praises.

“He’s the heart of the defense,” cornerback Richard Sherman said. “He cleans up a lot of mistakes made by guys, and other guys clean up mistakes like Earl (Thomas) and Kam (Chancellor). We’ve got a lot guys who are erasers out there, and he has such an instinctual game. He believes what he sees, he plays what he sees. On top of the immense talent and speed that he has, that makes for a fantastic football player that I hope everybody recognizes.”

Wagner’s agent obviously hopes general manager John Schneider recognizes it and will be ready to pay Wagner in the next two years.

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State of the team, The roster

Schneider deserves credit for helping the Hawks stay in the race

December 3, 2014 cc Leave a comment

If the Seahawks are able to sustain their newfound energy and momentum and make a major run through the postseason, a lot of credit will go to the veteran players who pulled the team together after the Kansas City loss. A little more credit will go to coach Pete Carroll and his staff.

But let’s not forget a key figure who has helped keep the Hawks afloat amid injuries and drama this season: John Schneider.

The general manager has had his most active season since 2011, when he was still putting together a competitive team for Carroll.

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State of the team, The roster

Moeaki already has made offense better

November 29, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Tony Moeaki has made a heck of an impact in just three games with the Seahawks.

The tight end scored a touchdown in his first game — against his old team, Kansas City. He led the Hawks with four catches in the win against Arizona, making two first downs. And then he pulled off Seattle’s longest play of the year — a 63-yard gain that maybe should have been a 64-yard touchdown — against San Francisco.

It has been a heck of a start for a guy general manager John Schneider picked up four weeks ago to replace Zach Miller, who is out for the season with an ankle injury.

Russell Wilson already loves Moeaki and looks for him in key spots, like the broken play that resulted in the 63-yard pass play.

“Moeaki, man, that’s a tremendous football player,” Wilson said Thursday after the Seahawks’ 19-3 win over the 49ers. “He knows what to do, he runs tremendous routes, he has a great feel for the game, get in and out of his routes at the right time, he has unbelievable hands. His adjustment to us is pretty spectacular to see in terms of how quickly he has made a difference. We are excited to have him on our team and to see all the plays he makes.”

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State of the team, Week 8: At Carolina

Carroll & Schneider learned how fragile their team’s psyche is

October 26, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Percy Harvin Debacle was a great lesson for Pete Carroll and John Schneider: They learned just how fragile the psyche of their young Super Bowl team still is.

And they probably learned which other malcontents they are going to need to send packing to make sure their team remains a Super Bowl contender.

This was bound to happen. Carroll and Schneider have flirted with this kind of danger ever since they came to Seattle — bringing in bad apples such as Terrell Owens, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow while courting chuckleheads such as Brandon Marshall and Vincent Jackson.

Adding those kinds of idiots to a young team is always a huge risk — too many impressionable kids on your team. Harvin apparently swung a few of them his way in his 19 months in Seattle.

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The roster, Trades

A look at John Schneider’s 31 trades

October 19, 2014 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider has proved very adept at turning first-round picks into late-rounders, although this is the first time he has devalued his own initial trade in such fashion.

By shelling out Percy Harvin for peanuts — just to get rid of the headache receiver and his mindboggling contract — Schneider in effect turned a first-rounder, third-rounder and seventh-rounder into a sixth that could become a fourth. Now that’s some real wheelin’ and dealin’.

Obviously, that stands as Schneider’s biggest whiff in his Seattle tenure — a gamble on greatness against all odds that did not pay off. It was one of his few foul-ups in nearly five years as Seattle’s general manager.

It also is now the fourth time he has moved a player the Hawks used a first-round pick to obtain.

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Contracts, Trades

Harvin trade gives Seahawks $12.8 million more next offseason

October 18, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Percy Harvin’s contract was an albatross from the ill-advised moment the Seahawks decided to guarantee him $25.5 million in a deal that included salary cap hits north of $12 million from 2014 through 2017.

It seemed farfetched that he would last that long at those numbers; thanks to his alleged anti-team antics, the Hawks just ended up cutting ties much earlier than anyone thought they would.

Even though he will still count $7.2 million in proration in 2015, the Seahawks divested themselves of the remainder of his $11 million salary this season and his $10.5 million salary in 2015.

With the trade official, the Hawks are not paying his $647,000 salary this week, so they will recoup $7.1 million this season. Add that to their net savings of $5.7 million in 2015, and the Hawks pulled an extra $12.8 million in cap space for next offseason.

That gives the Hawks a lot of wiggle room to re-sign some of their key free agents, if they choose.

Continue reading Harvin trade gives Seahawks $12.8 million more next offseason →