John Schneider: No reason to question if Jimmy Graham will be with Seahawks in 2017

Seahawks general manager John Schneider gave a strong indication that Jimmy Graham remains in the team’s plans for next season, saying Wednesday that “there is no reason to believe” the Pro Bowl tight end won’t be with Seattle in 2017, the final year of his contract.

Schneider told that to Gregg Bell of The News Tribune and Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times after his podium session at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. While it didn’t quite amount to a definitive assurance that Graham will be the Seahawks next season, it was pretty close, and Schneider hasn’t been one to play word games in order to leave himself wiggle room.

So that would seem to answer one of the biggest offseason Seahawks questions.

Graham, 30, is set to make $10 million and count the same amount against Seattle’s salary cap in 2017, the final year of the contract the team inherited when it acquired him in a trade two years ago. That’s by no means a prohibitive amount for a player of Graham’s caliber, but it’s substantial enough to warrant some question about whether the team would bring him back in 2017, especially since none of the money is guaranteed, meaning the Seahawks could save all $10 million by releasing him.

Listen: John Schneider with John Clayton at the scouting combine

Part of that thinking was based on the question of how Graham has fit in Seattle’s offense during his two seasons with the team. The overall production, at least in terms of catches and yards, has been there. He caught 48 passes for 605 yards in 2015 before suffering a season-ending torn patellar tendon in Seattle’s 11th game. Graham made it back by the start of next season despite an injury that comes with an exceedingly difficult and uncertain recovery process. He caught 65 passes for 923 yards, both single-season franchise records for a tight end, and made the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement.

But his inconsistent usage has at times been head-scratching, particularly in the red zone, where his 6-foot-7 frame and basketball background made him almost unstoppable in New Orleans. Graham caught two touchdown passes in 2015 and six last season plus one more in the Seahawks’ playoff loss to Atlanta.

Seattle’s apparent plans to bring back Graham would seem to decrease the likelihood of the team re-signing backup tight end Luke Willson, who’s one of 14 Seahawks scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. At the very least, it will reduce the money with which the team has to work and also the urgency the Seahawks would have had to bring Willson back if Graham wasn’t going to be in the fold.

Seattle spent a third-round pick last year on Nick Vannett. The other tight end on the Seahawks’ roster in 2016 was veteran Brandon Williams, who’s also scheduled to be a UFA.

More from Schneider:

• He said the Seahawks want to add some experience to their offensive line, which, in his words, “probably got a little bit too young” last season. That came in response to a question about whether or not he regrets releasing veteran guard Jahri Evans, whom the team signed as competition and a fallback option in case Germain Ifedi or Mark Glowinski faltered. Schneider said he did regret not having Evans, who returned to New Orleans and started all 16 games.

• Schneider said adding kicker Blair Walsh doesn’t necessarily close the door on the Seahawks re-signing Stephen Hauschka, another one of Seattle’s 14 unrestricted free agents. He said the team will sign another kicker to compete with Walsh, be it Hauschka or someone else.

• “I wouldn’t think so,” Schneider said when asked if cornerback DeShawn Shead will be ready by the start of next season as he recovers from a torn ACL. No surprise there given that Shead was injured in Seattle’s playoff loss in January, so late that it would be difficult to be ready by early September. Schneider said Shead is “crushing” his rehab. He acknowledged that Shead’s absence will push cornerback up the list of the team’s needs. On that note, Schneider told John Clayton that the team hopes to re-sign cornerback Neiko Thorpe, another UFA.

• Schneider didn’t have anything definitive on the statuses of free safety Earl Thomas or wide receiver Tyler Lockett, who are both coming off broken legs. “Those guys are doing great,” Schneider said. He declined to go into detail about strong safety Kam Chancellor’s surgery but said it went well.

• Does the drama with cornerback Richard Sherman change how Schneider views his future with the team? “No. I mean, he’s an elite player. I think everybody has bad days. Congratulations if you don’t. But we love him. He’s an elite player.”