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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 24: General manager of the Seattle Seahawks John Schneider walks on the field prior to the start of the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on November 24, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - An unbridgeable gap in contract talks with Geno Smith, and a desire to play elsewhere from DK Metcalf were the reasons behind the Seattle Seahawks dealing away two major parts of their offense last week.
General manager John Schneider met with reporters on Thursday for the first time since making a pair of trades that sent Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third-round pick, and Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second-round pick over the weekend.
"You have to be ready as a staff to be able to be flexible and head in different directions," Schneider said of the moves.
Per a source, the Seahawks offered Smith $40 million for the upcoming season as part of the extension talks, though the average over the length of the contract would not reach that threshold. The contract of Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams was a benchmark for the team's initial offer to Smith.
While Smith's production alone could justify higher numbers when compared to his fellow quarterbacks, he's also 34 years old.
"We made an offer to Geno, tried to extend him, it became apparent that we weren't going to be able to get a deal done," Schneider said. "It wasn't like a very long negotiation. And so as a staff, we had to be prepared to pivot. So we had sat down with the offensive staff, and obviously the personnel guys were on it before anyway, but always having a contingency plan and having to pivot. So we had several guys we were interested in, made the trade, and we were able to get the guy at the top of the list, which doesn't happen all the time."
The Raiders had been working to get Stafford from the Rams in a trade before he agreed to a revised deal to stay in Los Angeles. Once that happened, it opened up a possible destination for Smith. The Seahawks began extension talks with Smith coming out of the NFL Combine, but it became apparent that a deal wasn't going to be possible.
"There was no back and forth coming," Schneider said. "So that's when it became pretty evident that we should trade him to the Raiders."
Darnold became the top focus as a replacement for Smith, especially given his prior connection with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023.
"It worked out great," Schneider said. "Having Klint having the background with him, and all the connections we have around the league, the guys that have coached him, Scott Fitterer and Dan (Morgan) being with him as well in Carolina, and talking about the character, and how much we studied him over the years, watching his growth, and personally being able to be around guys that have kind of hit it later in their careers, like Rich Gannon and Matt Hasselbeck and Geno as of late, it just you know, you watch that progression. You watch the work ethic, the character, the person, the scheme fits, and it worked out perfectly."
Metcalf's trade request came last week ahead of Smith's trade to the Raiders. Schneider said the request didn't come as a surprise as he'd had multiple conversations with Metcalf this offseason about solving any potential issues that existed.
"I thought we could fix it, handle it, whatever it was, and at the end of the day, it was a no, and he wanted to be traded. "So we pivoted and moved forward," Schneider said.
"We want guys that want to be here. You know what I mean? We want guys that believe in what we're doing. And you'd have to ask him for one reason or another, he just wanted to move on and get a fresh start."
Seattle now has Sam Darnold as its new starting quarterback, Marquez Valdes-Scantling as a new receiving threat, and a new-look offense in place to work with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
Schneider said getting a speed threat like Valdes-Scantling was critical given the trade of Metcalf to the Steelers.
"MVS was big for us," he said. "Being able to take the top off (the defense) after losing DK. So that became a priority for us."
And for the fans that continue to clamor for more offensive line help, Schneider gets it and understands the angst. However, they aren't going to force the wrong deal if it doesn't make sense.
"Yeah, offensive line, definitely. We need to... look, I get it. Dave (Pearson) tells me all the time what's going on out there, ok? Everybody sees it.
"We were in on a big-time guy that we wanted to bring in and get a physical on when you spend that kind of spend that kind of money on a player, you know, we wanted a visit, another team didn't want a visit, and they just went ahead and did the deal.
"So what does that mean? Does that mean you just go ahead and start panicking and throwing money at, you know, other guys that aren't quite as good? No. You make the smart, patient decisions."
The "big-time guy" in question was Indianapolis Colts guard Will Fries, who agreed to a five-year, $88 million contract with the Vikings. Fries fractured the tibia in his right leg last October with the Colts and missed the rest of the year.
"We've made some decisions in the past that haven't been the best decisions for the organization, because we weren't patient and we panicked. And you pay for that," Schneider said.
Schneider also noted that your team doesn't need to be complete right now. Opportunities to get players through other means are available throughout the calendar and they want to remain flexible for those possibilities as well.
"We have a long way to go. We're not playing games tomorrow," he said. "You know, we don't want to have ourselves in a situation where, if people have to make some of those decisions on their teams, that we're ready to respond.
"Getting back to the offensive line stuff with like what Dave's talking about with the fans. I get that. Like, I have empathy for that, big-time. But I think people would rather have us win games than not being able to, you know, acquire people at the appropriate times throughout the season. Able to respond to a cap casualty guy, you know, during the summer or at the trade demo or whatever."
Additionally, Schneider was thrilled to be able to sign defensive end Demarcus Lawrence to add to their group as well.
"I mean, he missed time last year, but the guy's a monster," Schneider said. "He plays super hard. He's a two-phase player. Run and pass. Great leader. Obviously, you know, (Aden Durde)'s relationship with him, which is part of what we talk about with free agency too. Like the acquisition portion in free agency, even more than the draft with, you know, character, medical, psychological, scheme-fit, coachability, all that stuff is even more important because you're spending a lot of money right away. So you better know damn sure, like, who the person is.
"The guy loves football and plays really hard and he's extremely disruptive."
The Source: Reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.
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