GM John Schneider has a response to the many doubting these Russell Wilson-less Seahawks
Like an apparition, John Schneider resurfaced and fielded questions about the team he and Pete Carroll have remade.
Again.
Like a decade ago when he was a first-time general manager remaking the Seahawks with players others doubted, didn’t know or scoffed at, Schneider says this 2022 Seattle team may surprise, too.
Schneider traded his $140 million franchise quarterback, likely future Hall of Famer Russell Wilson, to Denver last winter following Seattle’s 7-10 season. That was, Schneider has said, after Wilson gave the Seahawks the impression he wouldn’t stay in Seattle beyond his contract ending with the 2023 season.
Primarily because of that trade and what’s become of their quarterback position, the Seahawks are roundly picked to finish last in the NFC West this season. Las Vegas oddmakers rate the over/under of wins for Seattle at about five. As in, a 5-12 season.
The Seahawks have 31-year-old Geno Smith as a full-time starting quarterback, his first such job in the NFL in eight years. Smith has a base salary for 2022 at just above the league veteran minimum, at $1.26 million. Smith will start this season behind two rookie tackles. His offensive line is 60% new.
Schneider released 32-year-old All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner, to save money. Jordyn Brooks, the team’s top pick in 2020, is now Wagner’s successor. Seattle has a rookie starting cornerback in Tariq Woolen. Questions remain at the other corner position. The team’s lead running back, Chris Carson, had to retire at age 27 because of a neck issue. Carson’s replacement, Rashaad Penny, has yet to prove in four years that he can play consecutive months without getting hurt.
So, yes, this question Wednesday to the GM in advance of the opener against Wilson’s Denver Broncos at Lumen Field Sept. 12 is warranted: What would you say to those who are doubting the Seahawks and their future?
“I think the easiest thing to do is to say, ‘Well, who are the stars, right?’” Schneider said, in his first comments with Seattle beat writers since NFL meetings in March.
“I think it’s an exciting thing, because the fans don’t know what’s coming, and who’s going to step forward.”
He mentioned the perceptions that DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett aren’t among the NFL’s top 100 players.
“I was listening to something this morning when I was working, and it was ‘You know, they have nothing on defense. They’ve got Jamal Adams and that’s it,’” Schneider said. “And I’m thinking to myself, ‘What about Quandre Diggs? What about...?’
“And I think the cool thing is, when you look back at our history...there weren’t a lot of people who knew who Richard Sherman was. Or Kam (Chancellor). Or K.J. (Wright) and Bobby, for that matter. All those guys. Russ was a third-round pick, when Pete decided to start him as a rookie.
“These guys come out of nowhere. And there’s so many cool opportunities for these guys.”
Opportunities, yes, those are plentiful among these remodeled Seahawks.
Seahawks are chasing now
Schneider said he’s “really been impressed” with the coaching staff’s intelligence and level of teaching to this remade roster. He and Carroll have a new defensive coordinator, line coach Clint Hurtt, installing a new 3-4 system.
Seattle has a Ph.D. as a secondary coach on defense, Sean Desai. It has a first-time offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, entering his second season calling the plays.
When asked which area or position of the Seahawks has improved the most since last season, Schneider said special teams. That may not be the answer you were hoping for.
“I’m excited to see where it goes,” Schneider said.
“We’re chasing, instead of being chased, which is, I think it’s cool. I think it’s exciting.
“It’s kind of like right when we got here, right (with Carroll in 2010, hired by the late team owner Paul Allen)? We were chasing the San Francisco 49ers.
“The L.A. Rams, like it or not, they are the world champions. So, let’s go. We’ve got to compete with them every, single day.”
The Seahawks put nine rookies, including two undrafted rookie free agents, on their initial 53-man roster for the season on Tuesday. That’s more than twice the four rookies that made last year’s team that was coming off a 12-4 season and NFC West title in 2020 (and had only three draft choices in 2021).
Now, Schneider and Carroll are remaking the team with the 29-year-old Diggs and 24-year-old Metcalf among its most prominent leaders and Pro Bowl-selection stars.
Does the GM relish this opportunity to win titles now without Wilson, without a superstar, franchise quarterback?
“Well, I think we’re all competitors and we are all professionals,” Schneider said, “and we have to handle things that come our way and try to improve the team as much as we possibly can.
“I don’t know about ‘relishing’ the opportunity. God rest his soul, I worked for Ted Thompson when we were in Green Bay and we traded Brett Favre (in 2008). You know, Aaron Rodgers was a number-one draft pick, but nobody necessarily knew how good he was. We struggled a little bit at first, and then he turned out to a be big deal.
“Having that experience, I think, was calming in a way, or helped (me) navigate through the situation. ...
“But, yeah, it’s a game-changer. It’s a big, big deal.”
Ownership situation
Rumors this spring into summer have hinted the Seahawks will soon be sold because that is what Paul Allen wanted his estate to do with the team before he died in 2018.
Jody Allen is the chair of the Paul G. Allen Trust, and of the Seahawks. She said through a team statement in July there were “no sales discussions happening. A time will come when that changes given Paul’s plans to dedicate the vast majority of his wealth to philanthropy, but estates of this size and complexity can take 10 to 20 years to wind down.”
Schneider was asked Wednesday if Allen has given any indication to him of the team’s near-term ownership situation.
“There’s no signs that she’s willing to sell it. That’s all I’ve been exposed to,” Schneider said.
So status quo?
”Yeah,” the GM said, “status quo.”
