Notes from Seahawks’ pre-draft press conference
May 6, 2014, 4:42 PM | Updated: Apr 8, 2016, 10:51 am
By Brady Henderson
RENTON – Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider held their annual pre-draft press conference Tuesday, speaking in general terms about the draft process and about their own players while saying nothing during the 30-minute session that might tip their hand.
Here are a few notes:
UDFAs a priority. Carroll and Schneider spoke at length about how Seattle offers undrafted free agents a better opportunity than most teams because of how much playing time the Seahawks tend to give such players. “This program is built on competition and we’re committed to giving guys a chance to show. So if they come to us, they’re going to get to play,” Carroll said. “We’ve proven that our (undrafted) guys play more than anybody else in the NFL in preseason, so that’s one fact for us. Also, the commitment that we’ve had is real in that we have had more rookie free agents playing for us than any other team.”
It’s a message the team is trying to get out. Later Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network tweeted a PDF of a brochure the Seahawks put together that serves as a sales pitch to UDFAs.
Finding them might be especially important this year with Seattle set to enter the draft with only six picks.
Fifth-year options. On Monday we noted the possibility of this scenario playing out: a quarterback-needy team sees one of its targets still on the board when it comes time for Seattle to chose at No. 32 and is enticed to trade up for that pick because of the fifth-year option that comes with first-round selections. Schneider was asked Tuesday whether the fifth-year options makes first-round picks more appealing.
“I think it does absolutely, especially at the quarterback position, sure,” he said before continuing and then stopping himself when he felt like he was about to elaborate too much. “Some of the bigger – especially quarterback. I’m going to leave it there. I was going to start ranking positions; I better not get into that.”
Carpenter’s option. When asked about the decision to decline left guard James Carpenter’s fifth-year option, Schneider said it had less to do with Carpenter and more to do with Seattle’s budget.
“It has just been part of our model over the last two years based on where we want to go in the future and what we know that we have to get accomplished here over the next couple years in terms of signing some players that are higher-priced players at their position,” he said. “It’s not a reflection on James at all. James has had a great offseason so far. He looks great and he’s doing a nice job.”
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