Good afternoon, 12s. Here's a look at what's going on out there and any news you might have missed about your Seattle Seahawks.
With the player personnel department and coaching staff back from the NFL scouting combine, the Seahawks turn their attention towards free agency, which starts next week. Teams can begin negotiating with free agents starting on Monday morning, then the new league year officially kicks off on Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT.
Seahawks general manager and president of football operations John Schneider provided some insight on free agency on Thursday during his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports 710AM, while head coach Mike Macdonald joined Pardon My Take for an interview that showed off a bit more of Macdonald's sense of humor. Here's more from those two interviews, plus other things you might have missed this week.
John Schneider talks free agency on Seattle Sports 710AM.
Every NFL team hopes to get better when free agency kicks off, be it by acquiring new players or by re-signing their own. Last March, the Seahawks nailed that process, making some big changes via trades and free agency, including the additions of quarterback Sam Darnold, receiver Cooper Kupp and outside linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence, all of whom played a big role in the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl.
We'll have to wait and see what the Seahawks get done this spring, but what is certain is that there will be some changes to the roster, that's just how things work in the NFL. As Schneider noted, there's a human element in all of these transactions.
"Your empathy level at this time of year is through the roof," Schneider said. "There's so many amazing people that take of these guys, the trainers, people in the cafeteria, the equipment staff, video… There's this cool bond you have, and it's just hard. But at some point, you have to make these decisions and keep putting the best 70 players together and moving forward."
Schneider brought up the example of the team having to cut defensive end Chris Clemons for salary cap reasons not long after he was part of a Super Bowl winning team.
"We had a great relationship, he's a great guy, then it's a cap casualty thing," Schneider said. "That stuff's hard, it's part of our job. What guides us is, what's best for the organization, what's best for the organization, what's best for the organization?"
Schneider also gave some insight in how decisions are made when it comes to spending those free-agent dollars.
"I hate this time of year where people are talking about, 'Well, he's not worth this, he's not worth that,'" Schneider said. "We don't look at it as worth. It's, what's the guy's value for us? His value around the league, that's that; what's his value for us and how do we fit that into our budget, to keeping the whole 70 together. Having the best 53-man roster, the best 70 guys, what does that look like in totality? Ranking players, this guy's better than that player, that's more for the draft, really. This is more, how can we maximize his earning power as well as keeping as many people together as we possibly can? It's trying to keep as many people happy as we possibly can and maximizing guys' earning power, and still having cap room, a little bit of cash for when you get to the trade deadline so you can still do things at that type of year because then you have a little bit better feel for where you're going and what your team looks like."
Listen to the full interview with Dave Wyman and Bob Stelton here.
Mike Macdonald joins Pardon My Take.
Among the many interviews Macdonald did at the NFL Scouting Combine was a long conversation with Pardon My Take for a podcast that aired earlier this week. Keeping with the theme of that show, it was an often lighthearted interview that brought out Macdonald's sense of humor.
Among the topics was Macdonald's interview with King 5 in which his comments about spending extra time with his 1-year-old son, Jack, went viral. In the interview Macdonald explained that he was spending less time in the office during the 2025 season, including an extra half hour on Thursday he dedicated to spending time with his son. That was then clipped and turned into graphics making it sound like Macdonald spent a total of 30 minutes with his son each week.
Early in the interview, Dan Katz sarcastically asks Macdonald what it was like to meet his son this offseason, to which Macdonald quips, "It was epic."
As for his comments in that King 5 interview, Macdonald said, "It was an extra 30 minutes on Thursday, that's what I was trying to say; it didn't come across that way."
Macdonald also shared why he is uncomfortable being called a football genius.
"You couldn't say anything to make me any more uncomfortable," he said. "It takes away from what the players do. That's what makes it uncomfortable. You watch our guys, play you watch what they do to make it come to life, they're the ones that do it."
Macdonald was also asked to bark two times, a question prompted by AJ Barner, and Macdonald obliged.
Listen to the full interview here or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch the interview on Netflix.