Seahawks would be crazy to let Pete Carroll, John Schneider walk

The concern is still puppy-sized, but like a young canine, it has the potential to grow real big real fast.

The thought is that the Seahawks will extend the contracts of head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider, but until those are signed, anxiety will persist.

Yes, the duo that transformed this also-ran of an organization into one of America’s most prominent sports franchises will be free agents after this season if they remain unsigned. And while that scenario is unlikely, you can understand why 12s may have some sweat droplets running down their foreheads.

To be frank, Carroll and Schneider are critical to the future of the Seahawks. Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman may be the team’s most celebrated figures, but in terms of those back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, the coach and GM were the most instrumental.

Michael Jordan once mocked former Bulls exec Jerry Krause for saying that “organizations win championships,” and given how it was basketball, the derision was justified. In football, however, Krause’s words are absolutely true.

This is not a sport in which championships are won because a team snagged a star or two.

The NFL is littered with Pro Bowl starters who book vacations the day after the final regular-season game.

What wins in football is covering every inch of the roster with productive personnel year in and year out. And outside of Bill Belichik and Bill Belichick, no coach/GM tandem has done that better than Carroll and Schneider this decade.

This is the team that nabbed Sherman and Kam Chancellor in the fifth round and Wilson in the third. Doug Baldwin, who was tied for first in the NFL in touchdown receptions last year, was undrafted, as was Thomas Rawls, who led the league in yards per carry.

Maybe it’s Schneider’s eye for talent, maybe it’s Carroll’s knack for development, or maybe (and most likely) it’s both. But it has gotten to the point where if Seattle makes a curious transaction, opposing teams aren’t thinking “what are they doing?!” — they’re thinking “what do they know that we don’t?!”

Seahawks owner Paul Allen would be mad to let this pair walk, even if the roster is loaded. Star power is meaningless without a capable coach (ask the 49ers, who went 13-3 the season after Jim Harbaugh inherited Mike Singletary’s 6-10 team), and a strong GM is essential for navigating the NFL’s incessant turnover rate.

It seems like it should be an easy decision for Allen, even if it means making Carroll and Schneider the highest-paid coach and GM in the league.

But then there’s this question: Is it in their best interest to stay?

There has been speculation for a while now that Carroll’s heart never left Los Angeles and that Seattle simply has him on loan. And given how Jeff Fisher and Les Snead — the coach and GM of the Rams — have expiring contracts, Carroll and Schneider will likely have a megaton of leverage.

New challenges are enticing, especially when they take place in the second-biggest market in the country. But come on. It would be insane for them to leave.

There is no team better equipped to make a string of Super Bowl runs over the next five years than Seattle. Carroll and Schneid­er have outdone most of their peers, but if they stay put, they’ll have the chance to join the all-time ranks.

You don’t give that up for the unknown. It’s too rare of an opportunity.

Perhaps all of this is a non-story and both men are extended before training camp starts at the end of the month. If you took a straw poll now, that’s how most people would predict this situation to play out.

But ask a Sonics fan who watched the city council’s street-vacation vote, or a Thunder fan who watched Kevin Durant sign with the Warriors, and they’ll tell you to be wary of what you think is going to happen.

The fact is, Carroll’s and Schneider’s are the most significant contracts for the Seahawks moving forward. If Allen locks those two up now, he’ll be locking up wins for years to come.