Pete Carroll, Seahawks Weighing Offseason Workout Alternatives

Back on April 13, the Seahawks became one of the first teams to release a statement through the NFL Players Association indicating players would be opting out of voluntary, on-field offseason workouts due to safety concerns revolving around the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, the expectation has been that veteran players wouldn't report to the team facility until mandatory minicamp, which is scheduled for June 15 through 17.

"They made a decision early with the information that they had and they didn't know what the deal was with with the COVID protocols and stuff that hadn't been stated yet from the league. So they made an early decision," coach Pete Carroll told reporters on Friday. "They were concerned and they wanted to make sure and take care of business and make sure everybody stayed safe. And I couldn't have agreed with them more."

One month later, however, with more and more Americans becoming vaccinated against the virus and the CDC releasing new guidelines, Carroll suggested that with things "changing rapidly" in regard to the pandemic, players may have a change of heart given the new information coming to light.

"Today was the big announcement from the league in conjunction with what the CDC said, you know, that people that have been vaccinated officially and fully, we're out of masks and all that. That's a shift. It's a shift in your mentality," Carroll stated. "And it changes things somewhat in that we've transitioned to this point where things are a little different than they were back then. I don't know what's going to happen as we move forward. Anxious to see next week how all the teams handle it."

As Carroll noted, more than 20 teams sent letters in to the NFL Players Association making a statement that players would not be coming to voluntary workouts. He's as curious as anyone to see how other teams handle the situation moving forward and how many players change their minds and decide to report.

"We'll see what happens and see what's right. But I trust our guys, they're working at it. They're figuring it out. And I know they're working really hard and I know they're studying really well. All of our Zoom meetings have been just on point and really better even than they were last year at this time. So we're making progress. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks."

When asked if the Seahawks have explored alternative options, Carroll said that he's been in touch with key people from other organizations to talk about what they may be planning to do. Coaches and players have been in discussion about alterations to the offseason plan, including possibility scrapping mandatory minicamp in favor of a week of OTA sessions instead. All options remain on the table.

"We're we're talking to our guys about about what our options are, and so we're well aware of what's going on - we're not aware of everybody - but we're well aware of some of the thoughts that the teams have," Carroll added. "We're going to come up with our own stuff, which we already are talking about, and see if something fits right as we move forward."

For now, the Seahawks are scheduled to hold two more rookie minicamp sessions this weekend and tentatively have 10 OTAs (organized team activities) practices scheduled for May 24, 26-27 and June 1, 3-4, and 7-10. Based on Carroll's comments, those dates remain subject to change as the organization weighs options seeking the best course of action for all parties involved.