The Seahawks aren’t good enough, and the roster flaws are on John Schneider

Since January 2010, it has been impossible to think of the Seattle Seahawks without associating them with Pete Carroll and John Schneider. Well, that changed at the beginning of the 2024 season when the longtime head coach was removed from his position.

There has always been a question about who had the final say.

Was this player who arrived in free agency requested by John or Pete?

And this guy was drafted in the first round?

Who did this trade?

As much as we could guess who had made such a move, only now, with Pete's departure, are we certain that the final say is John's.

This is a Seahawks roster and coaching staff that is 100% John Schneider's decision It is natural that when a new head coach arrives, he wants to hire players and coaches that he has already had contact with at some point in his career. Take Dan Quinn for example at the Washington Commanders . He brought names that worked with him (many in Seattle) to his staff, such as Ken Norton Jr and John Glenn. On the roster, you can see names like Tyler Biadasz, Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler, and Bobby Wagner who have already been with the HC during his time with the Seahawks, Falcons, and Cowboys.

It was not like that with the arrival of Mike Macdonald.

Several players from the Ravens, from Macdonald's dominant defense, became free agents in 2024. None of them was signed. In fact, they were not even really linked to the team, except for fantasy projections from websites.

Macdonald was also in Michigan as DC. Almost all of the Wolverines' defensive backs came in the 2024 Draft. Names like DT Kris Jenkins, CB Mike Sainristil, LB Junior Colson, EDGE Braiden McGregor, EDGE Jaylen Harrell were often put to the Seahawks in Mock Drafts. The only Michigan player who came via Draft was TE AJ Barner, who was not with the Wolverines when Macdonald was the DC.

The Seahawks also changed almost their entire coaching staff, including position assistants. The only one remaining was Karl Scott. Of all those who were hired, only Jay Harbaugh and had previously worked with Macdonald on a prior coaching staff. In other words, from the free agency signings, draft picks, trades and coaching staff choices, everything was decided by John.

Build of the (In)Offensive line Seahawks total 2024 spending on their entire offensive line: $22.2 million

What Seahawks are paying for Jamal Adams this year: $20.8 million

What Seahawks are paying for Quandre Diggs this year: $10.2 million

In one of his interviews during the offseason, we saw John Schneider say that teams were overpaying guards. The team let Damien Lewis leave to receive a bog contract with the Carolina Panthers and did not bring in any reinforcements that inspired confidence.

"Guys get overdrafted at guard position and, in my opinion, they get overpaid."

Said the man who paid $6 million for J'Marcus Webb to lose his spot to an UDFA, $7 million for Luke Joeckel, a bust who last played in Seattle. $11M for two years for Brandon Shell. Paid $4M for Austin Blythe after he spent a season injured and making the veteran's minimum. The problem is not the money or the position was the (awful) decision.

The center signed was Nick Harris, who was later traded for a sixth-round pick in two years. It was only near the beginning of the season that the team signed Connor Williams, a quality veteran who was coming off a serious injury.

For guards, the team spent a third-round pick on Christian Haynes, who was unable to overcome the worst OG in the league in several aspects, Anthony Bradford. He was healthy scratch in the last game. Guys drafted AFTER Haynes that are starters:

Dominick Puni, 49ers ( Pro Bowl level at least);

Layden Robinson, Patriots;

Mason McCormick, Steelers ;

Beaux Limmer, Rams;

Dalton Rucker, Colts;

Justin Dedich, Rams;

In free agency, they only brought in veteran Laken Tomlinson, who was coming off two dismal seasons with the Jets.

The rival Rams, on the other hand, brought in Jonah Jackson for 51M over 3 years and renewed with Kevin Dotson, 3 years and 48M. The result of this is that Matthew Stafford remained protected and Kyren Williams had another productive year. The top line was perhaps the only spot where John had a good plan. The team brought in George Fant, who has ample experience as a starter, to replace the injured Abe Lucas. Unfortunately, Fant got hurt in Week 1 and forced the team to turn to their third OT, Stone Forsythe. He was also placed on IR and Mike Jerrell, a sixth-round pick from Fordham, was called up to start.

Quick Review at last Draft classes In 2024, we have:

Byron Murphy -> not much impact due to a bad defense and injuries;

Christian Haynes -> as we said before, he lost the chance to even play in the games, even with the starters being Anthony Braford and Laken Tomlinson;

Tyrice Knight -> Even with Jerome Baker playing poorly, he didn't get any chances and the team spent another fourth-rounder for Ernest Jones.

AJ Barner -> one of the most criticized players in the preseason, he has been the most consistent rookie.

Nehemiah Pritchett -> didn't show anything to give us faith in him in the future. The team preferred to give a chance to Josh Jobe, a player on the practice squad.

Sataoa Laumea -> his biggest battle is to try to stay active.

DJ James -> cut;

Mike Jerrell -> fourth OT option. After a somewhat solid debut, he had two very bad games.

In 2023, we have:

Devon Witherspoon -> Masterful rookie season, but struggling in his second year; Jaxon Smith-Njigba -> High expectations for him, but he couldn't live up to the trust in DK Metcalf's absence (except for the fantastic game against the Rams). He suffered from drops, something that wasn't common on his Ohio State tape;

Derick Hall -> a first season without any impact. He's had a promising second year.

Zach Charbonnet -> disliked by many fans. He struggles behind a terrible OL to match the (unrealistic) expectations that he could replace Ken Walker.

Anthony Bradford -> worst starting guard in the league.

Cam Young -> there were at least a dozen better nose tackles than him (who drafts a NT in the fourth round?). He has more injuries and missed games than tackles made.

Mike Morris -> one year on IR and no impact in his second year.

Olu Oluwatimi -> the team preferred to try several other options than trying to give him a chance to be a starter. This includes being inactive for a Division II UDFA.

Jerrick Reed -> Special teams ace.

Kenny McIntosh -> if Charbonnet barely touches the ball, what about McIntosh?

Bad decisions in the Linebackers group The Seahawks let starters Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks sign with other teams and brought in Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker in their place. In addition, the team also drafted LB Tyrice Knight in the fourth-round of the draft.

Sometimes you get a great deal with a cheap addition that yields much more than expected. Neither happened. Their contracts were not cheap, especially Baker's 7M, which aged poorly. The same 7M that was previously spent on Greg Olsen, Luke Joeckel, etc.

Baker was not the only one, but he was one of the biggest problems in the Seahawks' running game. His signing cost the Seahawks a fourth-rounder that the team invested in the trade for Ernest Jones IV, in addition to paying more than $5M of his contract for him to finish the season with another team.

The "desperation" made Seattle pay dearly for Jones, in the context of the trade. Compare that to the Vikings who paid a CONDITIONAL fourth rounder to get a left tackle, and that was with the Jaguars taking on a good portion of Cam Robinson's contract. Seattle paid more and still sent a player who was a starter (whether good or bad).

This poor assembly of the group undermined the performance of the DL that he invested so much in. Sometimes the play was there to be made and the second level, especially the LBs, were not there.

Weak roster as a result of terrible free agency I always think that compensatory picks are a good way to gauge the team's construction. In theory, if you draft solid players, you won't need to sign a ton of players in the FA. This also means that some good players will leave the team and attract the attention of other teams (you can't keep them all, which is why the draft is essential). The Seahawks will have three compensatory picks (projected) for 2025. It will be the first time the team has had one of these picks since 2020.

I'm not a cap expert, but normally, a contract worth at least $3M is needed to be eligible for compensatory picks.

Take this as an exercise and look at Seattle's free agents for next year. The team will certainly have to sign a lot. Thinking about who will leave, the ones I see attracting some attention for a contract above $3M in a very optimistic view would be:

Tyrel Dodson, LB;

Jarran Reed, DT;

Connor Williams, C;

Tre Brown, CB;

Ernest Jones IV, LB;

All of these players are starters. Therefore, it is natural to believe that some of them should return, reducing the compensatory possibilities.

Decisions that are at least questionable The Seahawks had a few positions to fill and it seems like John made the worst decisions possible. Remember that years ago the team wanted a DL and chose Dre'Mont Jones over Zach Allen. Jones has been a huge failure and Allen is the leader in pressures among DTs.

Seattle needed a safety after cutting Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams from their inflated contracts. The team decided to sign Rayshawn Jenkins, a player cut from the Jaguars. And K'Von Wallace lost the battle to Coby Bryant for 3rd safety spot.

Here are the options available in free agency whom John did not sign:

Darnell Savage;

Xavier McKinney;

Geno Stone;

Jeremy Chinn;

Kamren Curl;

Justin Simmons;

You may disagree with some of the names on this list, but I believe all of them were better than Jenkins.

Moving on to Linebackers, here are the options:

Blake Cashman;

Frankie Luvu;

Azeez Al-Shaair;

Kenneth Murray;

De'Vondre Campbell;

Moving on to the interior of the offensive line, things don't change much. We went with Laken Tomlinson who gave Jets fans nightmares, and Nick Harris who was traded days later for almost nothing.

Jonah Jackson;

Jon Runyan;

Robert Hunt;

Ben Bredeson;

Kevin Zeitler;

Dalton Risner;

Tyler Biadasz;

Mitch Morse;

Aaron Brewer;

Lloyd Cushenberry;

He decided to invest the tenth largest contract among TEs in Noah Fant. The TE came off a season without TDs and for a coordinator who rarely used TEs in college.

Obviously, there are players he tried, failed, and we don't even know about their interest.

Final Thoughts I don't believe John is on the hot seat. However, given his results and the recent choices he has made, it's a good idea to start taking a look at the resumes of potential GMs in the future. His first year running the Seahawks "alone" isn't leaving a good impression.