John Schneider: Offseason going according to plan
Apr 1, 2014, 12:16 PM | Updated: 12:22 pm
By Brady Henderson
NFL teams don’t stay the same from one season to the next. Especially not Super Bowl champions, who typically experience a significant amount of turnover as their players become more attractive and their rosters becomes more expensive.
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So while the Seahawks have lost several key players, general manager John Schneider says the team’s offseason is going according to plan.
“What I would say is that we’re pleased with the way things are going,” Schneider told 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Danny” on Tuesday. “The way they’ve gone is part of the model that we’ve created over the last, I would say, year and a half. So we expected some attrition along the way. It’s always very hard to make those decisions and move forward, but we’re very excited about the young players that we have on this team.”
The number of players Seattle has either released or lost in free agency is up to 10. It includes starters like Golden Tate, Breno Giacomini, Chris Clemons and Red Bryant as well as backups who played significant roles like Walter Thurmond and Clinton McDonald.
Along with re-signing starting defensive linemen Michael Bennett and Tony McDaniel as well as kicker Steven Hauschka, Seattle added a trio of players who combined for two starts in 2013. But while the new additions have been minimal both in terms of volume and name value, Schneider said he’s excited about the players who could make an impact after spending most or all of 2013 on the sidelines. That list includes defensive lineman Greg Scruggs and cornerback Tharold Simon, who didn’t play a down last season because of injuries.
“We’re really excited about the young core of players that we have. We feel like two of our most explosive offensive players barely even played last year in Christine Michael and Percy (Harvin),” Schneider said. “So (we’re) just excited about our plan and moving forward, and we’re blessed enough to have young, talented team and we need to be able to plan accordingly in terms of being able to reward those players.”
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