Does Seahawks GM John Schneider really deserve latest contract extension?

Seattle's lead executive will be around for 20 years if he makes it to the end of his new deal.

Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

On Wednesday the Seattle Seahawks made a massive invesment in their long-time general manager John Schneider, signing him to a contract extension that will keep him in his position through the 2031 NFL season. If that sounds so far in the future that it could be a sci-fi scenario, you're not alone. It's also a symptom of the big risk team owner Jody Allen is taking with this move.

On the surface Schneider is one of the league's most-consistent and most-respected general managers and he has unquestionably had a big hand in keeping Seattle competitive over the last 15 years. However, the details matter - and that's where you'll find some legitimate reasons to question the wisdom of this deal. Let's review both sides of the debate.

The good

Again, there's a lot to like about Schneider's run as the team's general manager. Since he took over in 2010 they have compiled a regular season record of 147-96-1 and have made the playoffs 10 times. At their best (2012-2015) Seattle was not only the top team in the NFL, but had the best four-year run any defense in league history during that time.

That they only won one Super Bowl is a freak accident - with a different play-call to end Super Bowl 48 they'd have two - and we'll die swearing that they would have three-peated the following season without the cataclysmic rift that Russell Wilson's interception opened up between the offense and the defense.

Then again, when discussing this era one has to give the majority of the credit to former head coach Pete Carroll (let's call it two-thirds), who had full roster control - despite the dynamic being described as an equal partnership. Putting together the greatest defense of all time also requires at least a little bit of luck - and the odds that they same team can do it twice in 20 years are astronomical.

In any case, Schneider has undoubtedly put together a strong track record and he's one of the better executives around the NFL.

The bad

On the other hand, all along there's been one glaring weakness for this franchise that both Schneider and Carroll seem to have a blind-spot for. Even the year that they won the Super Bowl their offensive line was awful - despite spending more than any other team on the unit that season. Over time, the Seahawks have invested less and less in this group - and as you might expect the results have degenerated, as well.

Heading into the 2025 season the situation may be worse than ever. Seattle's offensive line is ranked 30th in the league right now, and if they don't prove that ranking terribly wrong there's a really good chance that the team's biggest gamble of the offseason (swapping Geno Smith for Sam Darnold at QB) could blow up in their faces.

That's the kind of thing that tends to get GMs fired, and giving the go-ahead before we see even one year of this huge, franchise-altering deal play out feels like a hasty and unnecessary move.

While we don't the details, Schneider told reporters yesterday that his contract had a "trigger" after 2025, which may explain why the team made the decision at this time. That doesn't change the fact that it was a huge gamble given how much the results have dropped off since the end of those peak Legion of Boom years that ended with the 2015 season.

The ugly

Starting with the 2020 season, the NFL expanded the playoff field from six teams to seven teams per conference. If not for that change, the Seahawks would have only qualified for the postseason once since then - posting an NFC West-best 12-4 record that year.

In the years since Seattle hasn't managed to win more than 10 games and only made the playoffs once thanks to the expansion. Some of that blame has to go on Carroll's shoulders, as his defensive units fell off badly in his last few years as head coach. However, the real handicap for the Seahawks over the last four years has been that abysmal offensive line - and the fault for that has to be Schneider's more than anybody else's.

There's always an outside-chance that Seattle's new offensive line coach could get better results than his predecessors, but the Seahawks will be trotting out four of the same five starters from last season, which finished with a bottom-two ranking for this group. There's a word for trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results - and it's not a dynamic you want from the individual running your franchise.

If the offensive line continues to flounder the Sam Darnold gamble will almost certainly fail - and Seattle will now be stuck with the guy responsible for the foreseeable future.

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