Since the Seattle Seahawks wrapped up a 10-win season that failed to conclude with a playoff appearance for a second straight campaign, the future of several big name stars has been brought into focus to open the offseason.
Should Geno Smith be back under center in 2025? And if so, will it be playing out the final year of his contract or on a new deal? Is there a way to bring Tyler Lockett back? Should DK Metcalf receive a massive extension or be put up on the trade block? Do Noah Fant or Dre'Mont Jones fit into Seattle's plans in 2025 and beyond?
But before any of these important questions can truly be answered, the Seahawks have an even bigger question that they need to answer themselves: Is general manager John Schneider up for task leading the franchise out of mediocrity and back to competing for championships?
The architect of two Super Bowl teams and five NFC West champions, Schneider has as decorated of a resume as any executive in Seahawks history. To his credit, the organization has rarely been in a position where they weren't in contention up until the final week, with a pair of seven win seasons in 2011 and 2021 being the lone exceptions, and he has engineered several fantastic midseason trades to bolster the roster, including dealing for linebacker Ernest Jones in October.
While Schneider will someday have his name in the rafters as a Ring of Honor member, however, there's an undeniable truth that has put a bit of a stain on his legacy as of late. Though the team has been competitive throughout the past half decade, Seattle has only made the playoffs once in the previous four seasons, hasn't won an NFC West title in five seasons, and hasn't won a playoff game since way back in 2019.
At the crux of this drought, Schneider has struggled to build a quality offensive line, which has long been his Achilles' heel as a general manager and ultimately been the prime reason why the franchise hasn't been competing for titles. For years, long-time star quarterback Russell Wilson masked pass protection problems with his innate ability to scramble and improvise, allowing the Seahawks to reach the playoffs year in and year out and consistently win games in January.
To a lesser extent, Smith has been able to do that as well thanks to excellent pocket presence, as he managed to finish in the top five in the NFL in passing yards and completion rate in 2024 despite being under pressure 38.5 percent of his drop backs, the second-worst pressure rate among qualified quarterbacks.
Run blocking hasn't been any better for Seattle either, as the team failed to have a rusher eclipse the 600-yard mark for the first time since 2017 this season. They have finished better than 18th in rushing yards just once in the previous four seasons, yet another indictment on the poor construction of the offensive line up front through the draft and free agency.
Away from his drawbacks building in the trenches, Schneider also endured a brutal free agent period as a whole last spring, whiffing on a boatload of one and two-year bargain deals. Both of the linebackers he signed - Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson - weren't even on the roster by Week 11, while receiver Laviska Shenault also received walking papers in Week 14. Center Nick Harris didn't even make it through training camp before being traded back to Cleveland either.
Of the free agents Schneider signed in March and April, only guard Laken Tomlinson started more than 10 games, and the veteran's performance was anything but stellar. He yielded six sacks and 48 pressures in pass protection, ranking in the bottom six in both categories, and didn't fare much better as a run blocker, ranking 37th out of 59 qualified guards per Pro Football Focus.
Making matters worse, tackle George Fant and safeties Rayshawn Jenkins and K'Von Wallace spent extended stretches on injured reserve. Fant only suited up for two games due to knee issues and Jenkins and Wallace both missed at least five games with injuries.
Schneider has done a better job of finding talent in the draft, including a pair of fourth-round gems this year in linebacker Tyrice Knight and tight end AJ Barner. But even on that front, third-round pick Christian Haynes couldn't beat out a struggling Anthony Bradford for the starting right guard job and sixth-round pick Sataoa Laumea ended up passing him on the depth chart late in the season, continuing to emphasize the problems Seattle has had drafting and developing linemen.
From a big picture standpoint, Schneider has drafted one offensive lineman since coming on board in 2010 - tackle Russell Okung - who made a Pro Bowl or All-Pro roster. While players such as guard Damien Lewis have done reasonably well along the way, the Seahawks haven't been willing to retain those players, letting them walk after one contract.
Regardless of what Seattle decides to do at quarterback in coming months and whether or not Smith is retained/extended, Schneider's seat has gotten a lot warmer following the departures of Wilson and coach Pete Carroll in recent years. The buck now stops solely with him on all personnel-related decisions, and if the franchise is to finally take the step back towards relevancy in the NFC, he's going to have to alter how he does business.
For one, Schneider needs to examine the current layout of his roster and lean on the success of other teams such as the Chiefs and Bills, who have maintained championship caliber play by redistributing cap investments from receiver and other positions to the offensive line.
Per Spotrac, the Seahawks have $69 million in cap hits on the books at receiver in 2025, the highest total in the NFL and 22.9 percent of their total cap investment. In comparison, as has been the status quo in the Pacific Northwest, the franchise has just $21 million in cap hits on the offensive line for 2025, ranking 30th out of 32 teams, ahead of only the Ravens and Bears.
Second, the Seahawks have to adjust their organizational philosophy in terms of how they spend on the offensive line. In the past, Schneider has taken cheaper, short-term short cuts for veterans such as signing Luke Joeckel to a one-year, $8 million deal in 2017 and Tomlinson last April. He hasn't been willing to open up the checkbook for a difference making veteran, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering this is the same executive who called guards "overdrafted and overpaid" last spring.
As just one example of this type of thinking in practice around the league, the Chiefs splurged on standout guard Joe Thuney in free agency in 2022, handing him a five-year, $80 million contract. All he has done since signing the dotted line is earn All-Pro honors each of the past three seasons and help the team capture back-to-back Lombardi Trophies, making that massive investment look like a steal in the long run.
Whether Schneider wants to admit it or not, his frugalness has cost the Seahawks a chance at climbing back into the mix in the NFC in recent seasons, as his bargain bin shopping has amounted to burning stacks of cash more often than it has resulted in quality, impactful additions. When he has opted to spend big money in free agency, it has been for deals such as the three-year pact given to Jones, who had never been a Pro Bowler or All-Pro in his first four seasons in Denver.
With the microscope now focused solely on him and his contract running through the 2027 NFL Draft, it's not out of the realm of possibility Schneider could be working for his job beyond 2025 this offseason. Along with numerous contract decisions that have to be worked out with Smith, Metcalf, and a host of other veterans, he's going to have to show that he can learn new tricks, particularly when it comes to prioritizing the offensive line more than he has in his first 15 years at the helm as well as figuring out the quarterback situation.
If those adjustments can't be executed, the question about Schneider's fit as the man to pull the Seahawks out of mediocrity and back into the championship hunt won't have the answer ownership or the fan base desires, putting the franchise's long-term trajectory in limbo and increasing the odds he won't be overseeing a likely rebuild.
