The Seattle Seahawks signed nine free agents this past offseason who had played with different teams in 2023. Of those nine, four are no longer with the team, and two others are currently not available to play for Seattle as they are on injured reserve. General manager John Schneider's first free agent class, where he was fully in charge of all the final roster moves, was a failure.
Schneider also pulled off a number of trades during the preseason and after the season began. In August, Seattle traded cornerback Mike Jackson to the Carolina Panthers for linebacker Michael Barrett. Barrett is no longer with the Seahawks. Jackson is having a pretty good season for the Panthers and likely would be the starter in Seattle now instead of Tre Brown had Jackson not been traded.
Schneider then traded a sixth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for edge rusher Trevis Gipson. Gipson has been terrible in limited snaps and one might rightly wonder why he is still on the roster. There is no expectation for him to get better. Most of Schneider's offseason moves have not worked out.
John Schneider's offseason words about free agency are coming back to haunt the Seattle Seahawks
As far as the free agents are concerned, Seattle signed linebackers Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson to replace Jordyn Brooks and Bobby Wagner. Baker was traded a few weeks ago. Dodson was released this week. Wagner is having a great season with the Washington Commanders.
In March, after free agency had started, Schneider was asked by the media about the team not re-signing Brooks. His answer now looks like a lazy one. He said the team wanted to focus on re-signing Leonard Williams, and negotiations were taking longer than expected. The GM added, "We had prioritized Leonard ahead of the linebacker position at that point. It was basically, like, D-line ahead of linebacker."
The issue with that is it implies Schneider cannot do two things at once. Seattle could not chase Williams in free agency while also trying to re-sign Brooks? The general manager's comments were made in reference to the legal tampering period, so Seattle could have tried to re-sign Brooks if they wanted. The truth is that Seattle did not want Brooks or Wagner back.
Instead, Seattle brought in Baker and Dodson, neither of which is still with the team. Seattle did get Ernest Jones IV back for Baker in a trade with the Tennessee Titans, and Jones has been good in the last couple of games, but there is no guarantee he will remain that way. Based on how well Baker and Dodson turned out, 12s might brace themselves for Jones not to be around in 2025, either.
Making the defensive line a priority over the linebacker position is fine, but the team can do two things at once and try to sign a defensive lineman at the same time they are trying to sign a linebacker. Plus, if one credits Schneider with trying to build the trenches, then what has happened on the offensive line? The O-line is terrible. Schneider and the Seahawks simply looked unprepared for free agency in 2024 without Pete Carroll still being around.