Recap: Brock & Salk Chat with Sea-Schneider
Yesterday Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider was on air with Brock & Salk on ESPN710. He was there to discuss what everyone would imagine: where team is going, where they’re looking in the draft, and who, if any, out of the free agents are enticing to the Seahawks front office.
Schneider delivered as advertised.
Here is my breakdown of his interview on ESPN710.
One of the most powerful men in Seattle - GM John Schneider
Facts gathered
- The Seahawks are focused primarily on their own guys. They are looking to re-sign Seahawks first, especially with the March 5th Franchise tag deadline and the start of Free Agency on March 13th.
- The team is doing what they can to retain Marshawn Lynch and Red Bryant first.
- Schneider feels a RB can be signed long-term.
- He feels like there is nobody worth giving the farm up for, that this is a very impressive draft class this year, and Seahawks willing to take certain risks.
On acquiring free agents
When they acquired Matt Hasselbeck, they had spent time with him and there was a certain comfort level there.
“If you’re lookin at guys, free agents and cap casualty guys, have to find guys with a uniqueness to your plan or scheme. You have to project how they lead, how they lead the locker room.”
“You have to know what areas are strong, and then be able to bounce that between being able to re-sign your own players for, you know, just go out and be able to get a better deal, if you will, on another player. It’s not easy, it’s a big boy business and sometimes you have to make tough decisions and move on. I think we’ve proved over the last several years we’re not afraid to do that.”
He used acquiring Charlie Whitehurst and Tarvaris Jackson as an example. He knew the TJack move was NOT popular with the fan base.
This is one of the risks Seattle is willing to make, for better or worse
Going after free agents and the part that team location plays
Location/distance has played a part in not getting a couple free agents over the last couple years (Reasons: wife and kids, from east coast).
“If you’re a true football guy, this is a great place. One of the reasons this is an attractive place is that it’s similar to Green Bay. It’s all football.”
He cites that Paul Allen lets them do their jobs. They’re not being force fed and told “You have to do this, you have to do that,” when it comes to getting players.
His thoughts on QB philosophy, acquiring QB’s, drafting QB’s
If it was up to him, they would take a QB every year. Schneider points out the draft in Green Bay when they got Brian Brohm in the 2nd round then Matt Flynn in the 7th round fn the 2008 NFL Draft.
In a QB, Schneider is looking for/questions used to evaluate:
“Number 1 thing is a guy who tilts the field, how he handles his teammates. If he’s a guy who can have a certain charisma about him. Where does the ball end up? How does he manage the game? What’s he like on 3rd down? How does he handle pressure? Is he staring at pressure coming at him or is he keeping his eyes down field? Can he square his shoulders? Can he back out and can he move?
“You have to be able to move in this league….. You have to be able to move and avoid shots, and be able to look down field.”
On scouting for the NFL Draft
“We were at the Alamo Bowl, I mean, there were several guys there that I was speaking with. you know, there’s guys that you know, for instance, I was at the Oklahoma/Texas A&M game …. we’re always talking about stuff. It’s just a matter of pinning people down. You just have to be cognizant of other people’s agendas.”
Random quotes
Schneider said, “There’s a lot of QB gurus in this town. I wish I would’ve known that before I moved here.” He was joking with Brock & Salk bout everyone weighing in on the QB situation.
He also said his college buddies have been calling him and telling him to draft RG3. “Did you see what he did at the end of the game against Washington? They scored, like, 190 points!”
The comfort with Matt made it easy for the Seahawks to bring him in
My Conclusion
Schneider says several different things here that make absolute sense with the direction they’ve been taking this team.
He secretly clears up a couple situations we have been debating about and then weighs in for both cases on another issue.
In the case for Robert Griffin III, the team loves every skill and quality he possesses based on their description of the type of quarterback they’re looking for.
But they don’t seem willing to throw the draft to get him. On the contrary, though, he does say the team is very willing to take risks.
This is confusing, but it still leads me to believe there will be no RG3 in Seattle next season.
In the case for Matt Flynn, this seems to be the most likely option out of 3 that have been discussed exhaustively in the off season. When Schneider references the comfort level with a player and talks about how the team acquired Matt Hasselbeck from Green Bay for that reason.
The same situation plays out with Matt Flynn (My case for him, My case against him) as his situation is the exact same as Hasselbeck’s was, except for the fact that he’s going to be a free agent.
In the case for Peyton Manning, it seems that this is the least likely option. They may pull a rabbit out of the hat, but Manning is not a mobile quarterback. And with his 4 surgeries, I’m not sure how the team would view that in terms of how much they’re spending versus the care that will have to go into protecting him and his neck.
Seattle’s game plan revolves around a mobile, agile quarterback who can slip the pocket and get down field if needed. Peyton is not that guy anymore.
The only slight hint or tell that he gave was that he REALLY likes Chris Polk’s running style. His physicality and his toughness really caught their attention.
