Connor Williams another failed John Schneider experiment for Seahawks

We do not yet know fully why now-former Seattle Seahawks center Connor Williams decided to retire. He is only 27 years old and could have had many years left to play football. According to the Tacoma News Tribune in October, Williams was extremely unhappy with his play and said he was not contributing to the team in the way he wanted. Now, he is gone for good.

Whatever the final reasons Williams had for no longer playing, they are his own and should be respected. He has made more than $20 million in his career, so he should be relatively set for the rest of his life. He is recently married and can afford to spend as much time as he wants with his new bride. Williams appears to be a good person and deserves whatever good comes his way.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider appears to be a good person as well, but he has not done a good job in his first season as the person making all the final decisions on roster moves. Though Schneider has been the team's GM since 2010, former head coach and Vice President of Football Operations Pete Carroll had the say over the roster decisions.

Connor Williams retiring another sign that Seahawks general manager John Schneider has failed in 2024

Schneider is learning that the job might not be as easy as Carroll made it look at times. While the team struggled with mediocrity in the last few years of Carroll's reign, the drafts still produced good players. Some free agents worked out well.

Schneider bombed in free agency in 2024. Williams was signed to a one-year deal while coming back from a 2023 knee injury for a total of $4 million with $2.98 million guaranteed. That was money wasted as Williams did not perform up to his previous levels with the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys.

In fact, no free agent signed from another team has contributed much of anything. Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks were replaced at inside linebacker by Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker. Dodson was released after Seattle's bye week and Baker was traded a month ago.

Safety Rayshawn Jenkins was not playing at a high level to begin the season and has since been hurt and placed on injured reserve. So is fellow safety K'Von Wallace who has not done much of anything defensively. Right tackle George Fant was signed for two years but has been injured twice and played a total of 30 snaps in two games.

Williams, who will be replaced by Olu Oluwatimi moving forward, choosing to retire is not something Schneider could have foreseen, but he also might have done a better job of feeling out just how committed Williams was going to be this season before the center was signed. Rarely does a team have a free agent class (and the draft class has yet to produce anyone on the same level as the 2022 and 2023 draft classes have) that completely fails, but the Seahawks are on the verge of that.

The blame goes to John Schneider. He must do a better job in 2025 of signing free agents and drafting players, or Seattle is going to be stuck in long-term mediocrity or worse. If the general manager does not succeed next year, he needs to be relieved of his duties.

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