Seahawks post-free-agency mailbag: Could John Schneider make a splash trade?
As usual, I’d like to begin with a thank you to everyone who submitted a question for this Seattle Seahawks mailbag. There were a bunch of good ones, and I wish I could have answered them all. With that said, let’s dive in.
Note: Some questions have been edited for clarity or brevity.
Do the Hawks look to make a splash via trade? Especially given recent moves by LA and SF? Are names like Crosby, Achane or Greenard realistic? Or is it more likely the Hawks stay put and target impact vets later in free agency? – Tom F.
Acquiring any of Maxx Crosby, De’Von Achane or Jonathan Greenard would address a need for Seattle, but all three decisions would come with drawbacks. In addition to medical grades, Seattle also gives prospective players durability scores. General manager John Schneider said they’ve been doing that for years. Based on reporting by my colleagues, it sounds as if Crosby might not fare well in the durability department, even if he’s expected to make a full recovery and play this season. Add that to his age and salary over the next couple of seasons, and a trade seems unlikely for several reasons.
Achane would be an excellent fit but perhaps too expensive based on what the Jaylen Waddle trade compensation says about how the Miami Dolphins’ general manager, Jon-Eric Sullivan, values his top players. Achane is also entering the final year of his rookie contract, so he’s either due for an extension this summer or a payday next spring. Neither would seem likely in Seattle.
It feels more likely the Seahawks will wait until after the draft and kick the tires on a veteran edge rusher who wouldn’t impact the compensatory draft pick formula, such as Von Miller or Jadeveon Clowney.
Did Schneider underestimate Coby Bryant’s importance? Bryant was a significantly higher-level player than Ty Okada, and I think if that’s the direction the team goes, it may get exposed at times. – Tyler A.
By letting Bryant walk, Seattle is betting on its scouting department to find another safety in the draft and betting on its coaching staff to develop Okada, AJ Finley, D’Anthony Bell and free-agent signee Rodney Thomas II. It’s the type of bet the Seahawks have made before, like when they let guys such as Shaquill Griffin, D.J. Reed, Damien Lewis and Jordyn Brooks leave in free agency. Some of those gambles worked out better than others.
Retaining Okada and Julian Love keep the defensive floor high, but Bryant’s range took the defense to another level. I wouldn’t be surprised if free safety ends up being a position Seattle is still on the lookout for after training camp.
Why don’t the Seahawks look at right guard as an urgent need? – Andrew W.
1. Seattle could view something as an urgent need – such as left guard last year – without making a desperation move in free agency and spending big on a marginal upgrade.
2. The gap between how fans view right guard Anthony Bradford and how he is viewed by the team is massive. Bradford turns 25 and has a 2026 salary-cap hit of $3.8 million. Seattle sees Bradford as a starting-caliber guard – which he is. The team will happily make him compete for the job every year, but doesn’t view him as a weak link bringing the whole unit down.
3. Schneider believes interior offensive linemen are overpaid and overdrafted. He’s right about that. Schneider will always be economical about addressing that position. The process there is sound; the execution hasn’t been there consistently. But I don’t expect him to alter his process.
Are Schneider and Mike Macdonald comfortable cycling through offensive coordinators one year at a time, or are they aiming for more continuity? – Keith C.
Macdonald would have preferred to keep Klint Kubiak for another year, but that’s just not how the league works when your team has success. Continuity is the goal, albeit an unrealistic one. If Brian Fleury has a great year in 2026, there’s a chance he’s gone by 2027. Macdonald probably wouldn’t like that, either.
What is the biggest challenge for our new OC? – Anonymous
Because Fleury has never called plays on offense, there will be growing pains in his first season. He’ll have head-scratching moments, make mistakes and get outperformed by experienced defensive coordinators. That’s the name of the game when you’re in that role for the first time. The good news is Seattle already has an offensive identity, so Fleury will be following a blueprint as opposed to creating one.
The flip side is that when you win the Super Bowl, everyone spends the offseason trying to dethrone the champs. The challenge will be winning the chess match against the opposing play caller every week, especially late in the season when defensive coaches tend to really get cooking. Fleury will have to develop a great plan but be ready to have counters to all the wrinkles teams will throw at Seattle as the season progresses.
Do you get the sense that Schneider wants to make a “big move if it’s the right move” for a running back or an edge rusher? – Leonardsmalls S.
Schneider always wants to make a big move if it’s the right move. He’s been that way since he got here in 2010. That mindset is how Seattle ended up with Marshawn Lynch, Percy Harvin, Jimmy Graham, Sheldon Richardson, Duane Brown, Clowney, Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams, Leonard Williams, Ernest Jones IV, Rashid Shaheed, etc. As you can see, not all those moves were the right move, but Schneider is always willing to take a swing.
Seattle is projected to have four compensatory draft picks in 2027, according to Over the Cap, bringing the team’s total to 12 selections. If the Seahawks need something during the summer or at the deadline, Schneider will pull the trigger.
Why didn’t we franchise tag Ken Walker III? – Nathan S.
Schneider would rather extend a player on a deal with an out after one year than use the tag and commit to a much larger immediate cap charge. At $14.3 million, Walker would have had the fifth-highest cap hit on the team in 2026. His Year 1 cap hit on the $43 million deal he signed with Kansas City is $5.6 million. His cap hit balloons in Year 2 – which also tends to be the case with the three-year deals that players sign in Seattle – but a multiyear contract gives teams and players more wiggle room to adjust where needed.
The problem is players desire as much long-term security as possible; Walker and Bryant already have their 2027 base salaries guaranteed, for example. Seattle doesn’t typically do that. If anything, that’s the contract philosophy the Seahawks might need to pivot from to retain players, not their unwillingness to use the tag.
Was the timeshare between Walker and Zach Charbonnet an attempt to depress Walker’s free-agent value in a contract year? Would they have re-signed him at a lower rate? – Dan K.
People are overthinking this, honestly. Seattle felt it had two lead running backs and treated Walker and Charbonnet accordingly. Charbonnet is the bigger back and the better pass protector, so he got a lot of snaps on third down and in the red zone. Is a one-two punch also better on the bodies of both running backs? Yes. But thinking Seattle tried to diminish Walker’s value is a step too far.
As for the money, I never expected Seattle to be in Walker’s range. It would have likely required a serious discount for Walker to come back.
Who are the three most likely RB fits in the draft? – Cody N.
What are the odds John uses one of the first two picks on an RB? (FWIW, I hope he does not.) – @rosebug22
Jeremiyah Love will probably be long gone before the Seahawks are on the board in the first round, but his running mate at Notre Dame, Jadarian Price, would be a good fit. As would Arkansas’ Mike Washington Jr. There might not be an obvious lead-back candidate beyond those three, though. And that’s what Seattle should be searching for if it drafts a running back with a top-100 pick. Anyone selected after that would project as a special teamer and a backup in Year 1.
Do you think the upcoming sale of the team and the potential money being put into escrow have led to a lack of big moves? – Rafi H.
No. Seattle doesn’t typically make free-agent splashes. Signing Uchenna Nwosu to a two-year, $19 million contract in 2022 was considered a “splash” for them. Same with Dre’Mont Jones’ $51 million deal in 2023. The 2025 offseason was an outlier, and I don’t expect the Seahawks to spend like that again because of Schneider’s team-building philosophy.
He views drafting and developing as the primary path to constructing a contender, then sees the summer and in-season trade markets as better avenues than the open market. Jody Allen is correct to believe in Schneider’s vision, and the next ownership group should do the same.
What is the Seahawks’ most pressing need in the draft, and what pick/round could you see them filling that need? – Derek L.
Draft needs, in order: Edge, safety, running back, cornerback, interior offensive line.
The Seahawks should trade out of the first round and address all those needs in Rounds 2-4. The order I have the needs listed is how I think they should fill them. I wouldn’t budge on edge as the top priority, given the correlation between front-line depth and fielding a championship-caliber defense. (There’s a more urgent long-term need there as well, with the ages and contract statuses of Derick Hall, DeMarcus Lawrence and Nwosu.)
My draft crushes so far at the top four positions of need:
• Zion Young, edge, Missouri
• Keionte Scott, safety, Miami
• Jadarian Price, running back, Notre Dame
• Chris Johnson, cornerback, San Diego State
What’s your vibe about the looming contract extensions for JSN and Spoon? – Nick P.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon should sign extensions this offseason, even if their fifth-year options are exercised. Smith-Njigba’s deal should make him the highest-paid receiver by average annual salary, and Witherspoon’s extension should land him somewhere in the top five cornerbacks. Locking up your young, core players and getting ahead of major changes to the market is good business.
Seattle has a recent history of inking extensions in April (Russell Wilson, Lockett) and June (Michael Dickson) in addition to its pattern of pre-training camp contract negotiations. Any of those windows make sense for Smith-Njigba and Witherspoon extensions. If they can’t reach any agreement by April, the May 1 deadline to exercise those options for 2027 – Witherspoon at $21.1 million and Smith-Njigba at $23.8 million, according to Over the Cap – will buy time for both sides.
Regardless of the exact date, I’d expect those deals to be done before the start of the 2026 regular season.
Is a trade-up to draft a guy like Jeremiyah Love in the plans, or is the organization waiting for the seemingly better draft class next year? – Gabriel A.
The Seahawks don’t think highly of the 2026 draft, but four picks is still very few. In addition to the annual trade-down, do you think they trade some 2027 picks to add ’26 draft capital, knowing they’re positioned well with ’27 comp picks? – Matt M.
I’d put the odds of the Seahawks trading up in the first round at about 2 percent.
As for being flush with projected picks in the 2027 draft, I think Seattle is more likely to hold on to those and see what the team needs after training camp and during the regular season. Trading 2027 capital to get more bites at the apple in the 2026 draft makes less sense than keeping a stash of draft ammunition to be aggressive in the summer and the fall.
Who is one free agent left you think would be the best signing for the Hawks? – Derek D.
The remaining free-agent crop is underwhelming, but aside from Miller and Clowney, I’d understand if Seattle kicked the tires on former Saints defensive lineman Cam Jordan. That type of transaction can wait until the summer, though.
Which starters will get even better in 2026? – Paul G.
I anticipate Seattle giving Shaheed a bigger role at Cooper Kupp’s expense, the same way Smith-Njigba (Tyler Lockett) and Byron Murphy II (Jarran Reed) supplanted veterans in their second seasons with the team. Shaheed’s film suggests he is more than a gadget player capable of catching the occasional deep ball, and I imagine his usage in 2026 will reflect that.
Murphy, who turns 24 at the start of next season, should keep getting better, too. With 13 quarterback hits, seven sacks, two tackles for loss and four run stuffs (tackles for no gain), Murphy should have been on one of the All-Pro teams. He came into the league as a great run defender and popped as a pass rusher in Year 2. He’s strong, quick and hungry to be recognized as one of the best players at his position, which should come to fruition in 2026.
Who is one player from the current roster or “ready squad” you think will surprise us next season? – @andrewjaipresly
I’m still patiently awaiting the Kenny McIntosh breakout season. His 2024 preseason (17 carries, 142 yards, one touchdown) is just burned in my brain. He runs with good contact balance, possesses breakaway speed and has reliable hands. Assuming he makes a full recovery from the torn ACL he suffered in August, McIntosh is as talented as any running back on the roster and should get an opportunity to be one of the two lead guys.