710 ESPN Seattle Reacts: Seahawks extend GM John Schneider

Jan 12, 2021, 3:05 PM

Seahawks GM John Schneider is now under contract into 2027. (AP)

(AP)

Staff report

Just a few days after the Seahawks’ season ended with a playoff loss, the team made its first big news of a critical offseason by extending general manager John Schneider through the 2027 NFL Draft.

Schneider, 49, has been the Seahawks general manager since 2010 when he and head coach Pete Carroll came to Seattle. Carroll signed a contract extension during the 2020 season to stay on through 2025, when he will be 74 years old, and now Schneider will be in Seattle for even longer than that.

With the news that Schneider is locked in with the Seahawks for years to come, we’ve compiled the reactions of the voices of 710 ESPN Seattle. Here’s what they had to say.

Jake Heaps – Jake and Stacy

710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake and Stacy went on air shortly after the news broke, and they opened their show talking about the move. Jake Heaps was happy to see the deal get done right away, especially with there being other general manager openings across the NFL.

“This is a situation to me, with John Schneider being signed on and getting this extension, it brings a little more stability to this current situation,” he said. “And I believe John Schneider was looking harder at these other alternative situations like Detroit, like other organizations out there more so than maybe people thought.”

The details of Schneider’s extension were what really caught Heaps’ eye.

“All this time, John Schneider and Pete Carroll have been in lock step every step of the way since they have been here in Seattle … yet this time around at this stage, John Schneider’s contract runs through (the 2027 NFL Draft) and not through 2025, which is when Pete Carroll’s contract ends, so you have a little bit of difference here in terms of … last man standing,” Heaps said. “And right now, the last man standing of this trio you have here between Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson and John Schneider is in fact John Schneider.”

Due to Carroll’s contract running out before Schneider’s, Schneider likely will be choosing the next Seahawks head coach after the 2025 season.

“I do think that part of it is very intriguing to me that John Schneider, when there will be a new head coach at some point in time, he will be the man in charge to hire the new head coach, to have full control over what is going on,” he said.

Stacy Rost – Jake and Stacy

Heaps’ co-host Stacy Rost also thought that the length of Schneider’s contract is pretty telling.

“I would imagine (the longer contract than Carroll’s) had to be a little bit of an incentive,” she said. “John Schneider sharing that control a little bit more than some other GMs around the league, (meaning) Pete Carroll has more control than other head coaches would.”

She also found the timing fascinating for two very different reasons.

“Not because we weren’t expecting the Seahawks to have to make some kind of move to keep John Schneider in Seattle with so many other teams … having very open interest in pursuing Schneider,” she said. “… But I think the timing of it as far as news (was interesting as I’d recently read a Deadspin article saying Schneider was destroying the Seahawks).”

She thought that article was off-base, especially given Schneider’s role in the Seahawks’ defensive turnaround late in the season.

“The trade for Jamal Adams … but also the trade for Carlos Dunlap with the Cincinnati Bengals, who don’t often trade,” Rost said. “And you got Carlos Dunlap to restructure his deal and move a couple million to the following season. Those are great moves.”

Dave Wyman – Wyman and Bob

The color commentator for Seahawks Radio Network broadcasts shared some of his insight as a former NFL linebacker about what makes the symbiotic relationship between Schneider and Carroll so unique.

“There’s a little bit of a rivalry in the NFL – not here, obviously – of some of the guys that played vs. some of the guys that didn’t. I’ve noticed that that popped up a little bit (in my time in the NFL and covering it). And then there’s the difference between (a general manager) getting a player in here and then (a coach) playing him,” Wyman said. “I’ve never heard any of that from John or Pete. There’s never been any kind of an indication whatsoever (of them not being on the same page), and you just start with the fact that Pete calls him ‘Johnny.’ You know that there’s a lot of respect and love there and they never crossed that line.”

Bob Stelton – Wyman and Bob

Though rumors popped up last week that other teams were interested in talking to Schneider to take their general manager positions, Stelton said he was never concerned he would would leave because none of those teams were the Green Bay Packers. Schneider is a Wisconsin native who came to Seattle after a stint as Green Bay’s director of football operations.

“Did you ever fear this wasn’t going to happen?” Stelton asked rhetorically. “Unless it’s Green Bay – maybe I’m just fooling myself thinking he has no interest in any other franchise than Green Bay – but seems like it would be tough to better his situation than what he’s got going on here.”

Paul Gallant – Danny and Gallant

Paul Gallant of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny and Gallant chimed in on Twitter, and he pointed to Seattle’s two most recent draft classes, which netted the Seahawks star receiver DK Metcalf and potential long-term starters in linebacker Jordyn Brooks and guard Damien Lewis, as a big reason Schneider’s new deal is good news.

HUGE. Finally something good Seahawks wise over the last couple of days.

Schneider's last 2 draft classes have delivered, his trades to this point have paid out, and his choices in FA have been cautious yet effective.

The job he's done the last 2 years merited an extension. https://t.co/CfwrJ7MoNG

— Paul Gallant (@GallantSays) January 12, 2021