Seahawks general manager John Schneider agreed to a new extension that would make him among the highest-paid general managers in the NFL, according to an ESPN report.
The Seahawks have reached an agreement on a contract extension with general manager John Schneider.
Seahawks owner Paul Allen tweeted the news on Sunday afternoon:
Schneider was entering the final year of his contract in 2016. ESPN’s John Clayton reported that Schneider’s new deal is expected to make him one of the highest-paid general managers in the NFL likely in the $4 million a year range.
Sources said Schneider and the Seahawks agreed to a five-year contract extension. Schneider is expected to meet with the media this week.
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Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is also entering the final year of his contract, and it is expected that the Seahawks will now look to re-sign Carroll to an extension possibly as soon as this week.
Carroll and the Seahawks have been working on a contract extension going back to March, according to reports. Carroll has been typically coy about his contract situation when asked about it; usually, he responded with, “I’m doing great.”
Schneider, 45, has been a part of five playoff appearances, two Super Bowl appearances and one championship in his six seasons with the organization. Allen called him the “key architect of our roster.”
Schneider has been especially valuable in the draft process. He drafted cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell, safety Kam Chancellor, linebackers K.J. Wright and Malcolm Smith — all in the fourth round or later. He signed undrafted free agents Doug Baldwin, Thomas Rawls and Jermaine Kearse. He traded for Marshawn Lynch when Lynch was no longer seen as a franchise centerpiece. He selected players higher and earlier than many analysts thought wise, most notably in 2012 when the Seahawks drafted Bruce Irvin in the first round and Russell Wilson in the third round.
The Boston Globe set out to find which teams drafted best from 2008 to 2012, and here’s what the paper wrote about Schneider and the Seahawks after that analysis: “Schneider should have some type of front-office award named after him.”
That’s how good he was in his first three years, the years that helped shape the Seahawks into a Super Bowl winner and still shape the Seahawks to this day. Those are the drafts that landed Sherman, Wright, Irvin, Wilson, Bobby Wagner, Chancellor, Maxwell, Russell Okung, Walter Thurmond, Earl Thomas, Golden Tate and Jeremy Lane.
Former Seahawks owner John Nordstrom, who remains close to the organization, once said of Schneider, “It’s like a great athlete who doesn’t realize he’s a great athlete.”
Nordstrom added, “He has a special talent of which there aren’t many. At least we haven’t seen them. We’ve had a bunch of guys, they worked hard, they did all the right things. But I guess when it comes down to it John has talent. He’s a natural.”
Ron Wolf, the former Packers general manager and Hall of Famer, worked with Schneider when he first started as a scout in the league. He said Schneider was someone who could “really, truly evaluate (players) and isn’t full of BS.”
Schneider, of course, hasn’t hit on all of his picks or all of his moves. He traded for Percy Harvin, a move that ultimately backfired, and his last few drafts have produced far from the crop of his first few hauls.
But Schneider is considered one of the best talent evaluators in the league. Now, under the reported expectations of his new contract, he will be compensated as such.
Schneider and Carroll have long taken great public pride in their relationship, and it is a unique one. Carroll was hired first and actually interviewed Schneider for the general manager position, which is reverse of traditional operations in the NFL. But Carroll and Schneider have both given the other credit for their skills — Carroll praises Schneider for his ability to find talent in the draft and on the market, and Schneider praises Carroll for his ability to develop and adapt to that talent.
“I’m really proud of that relationship,” Carroll said in 2014, “because without that we would be making errors, more errors than we have been. We’ve been pretty accurate.”