PALM BEACH, Fla.—The Seahawks aren't done building their roster for the 2025 season, and really, that process is never ending. But three weeks into the new league year, the Seahawks have made some significant moves to reshape their roster.
Gone are quarterback Geno Smith (trade), receiver DK Metcalf (trade) and receiver Tyler Lockett (released for salary cap reasons), and new to the team, among others, are quarterback Sam Darnold, receivers Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
With the first wave of free agency in the rearview mirror, and with the draft coming up in late April, Seahawks general manager and president of football operations John Schneider discussed on Monday his team's offseason so far, as well as what's still to come, while meeting with the media at the NFL Annual Meeting.
"You always feel good about it, you always feel good about the process," Schneider said. "The results are always—sometimes you hit on some guys, sometimes you miss on some guys, especially in free agency. We feel good where we're at, but it's so early.
"Free agency moves so quick, then you have to be prepared at the combine for whatever is coming. That's when you start talking to people, start negotiating with your own guys, try to get a feel for what the landscape's going to look like around the league, then you have to be able to make those decisions. We made the trade with Geno and DK—it wasn't in our plans, but we were ready for it, we were prepared for it.
Schneider added "there's a long way to go" when it comes to building the team for next season, including a very important draft in which the Seahawks hold five picks in the top 92, as well as possible trades that Schneider said could be discussed this week in Palm Beach. But while there is work to do, he likes the direction of the team so far this offseason.
"There's a long way to go, we want to get through the draft, see what the cap casualty guys look like after the draft… But all in all, really good," he said. "We're really excited about Sam, (Josh) Jones, the tackle, was huge for us, getting a swing guy. Lawrence, big deal for us, AD (defensive coordinator Aden Durde) knew him really well. There's still a lot of work to do. We're in the midst of talking to people down here about a lot of things, trade possibilities, and just getting ready for the next three weeks before the draft."
Schneider also discussed the recent signing of former All-Pro receiver and AP Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp, who signed with Seattle not long after the Rams released him in an expected salary-cap related move.
"It was evident that Cooper was going to become available, then once DK wanted to be traded, we decided as an organization we were going to do that, talked it through with (Seahawks Chair Jody Allen), she's thoughtful, she's engaging, she's willing to make tough decisions, so we decided to move forward with DK," Schneider said, adding the release of Tyler Lockett also created a need at receiver. "Once we did that… we had a gap there, and Cooper was the guy we identified. (Offensive passing game coordinator) Jake Peetz had coached him in the past, so we felt like we really knew the person, knew what we were getting into. He had like three or four teams he was talking to, and he wanted to come home. He's going to be great for (Jaxon Smith-Njigba)—he's going to be great for the whole team—but you think about a guy like JSN, the guy's just, what everybody says is he's the ultimate worker. It was a huge get for us."