John Schneider: What Seahawks are getting with Jones, Reed and Brown
Mar 17, 2023, 12:16 PM | Updated: 12:17 pm
Jarran Reed of the Seahawks celebrates a sack on Jan. 5, 2020. (Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
(Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
The Seahawks have been busy at the start of free agency, giving general manager John Schneider plenty to discuss during his weekly show on Seattle Sports.
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Schneider opened Thursday’s show discussing the re-signing of backup quarterback Drew Lock, and he also shared some insight into three other signings the team has made – defensive linemen Dre’Mont Jones and Jarran Reed and offensive lineman Evan Brown.
DL Dre’Mont Jones
The first big splash of the Seahawks’ offseason was the signing of Jones, formerly of the Denver Broncos.
Schneider told Wyman and Bob that Jones prefers to go by “Dre,” and that his physical presence stood out.
“Really impressive looking dude,” Schneider said of the 6-foot-3, 280-pound lineman.
Last offseason, the Seahawks made a blockbuster trade with the Broncos that sent quarterback Russell Wilson to Denver in exchange for four high draft picks, QB Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive lineman Shelby Harris.
Schneider said they did ask about including Jones, who is 26 years old, in that trade.
“We talked about a bunch of guys and he was one of them … They were not willing to part with him,” Schneider said.
Adding to the defensive line was and still is a big focus for the Seahawks, Schneider said.
“We knew we really wanted to address our defensive line, and we’re still trying to do that,” he said. “We’re working with a number of guys, talking to a number of different players in helping our defensive line and our defense.”
DL Jarran Reed
Sticking with the defensive line, the Seahawks brought back an old friend in Reed, a second-round pick of Seattle’s back in 2016.
Reed, 30, left the Hawks after the 2020 season, joining the Kansas City Chiefs, and he then played in Green Bay last year.
“Having drafted somebody like that, you’re always loving the guy up. We didn’t want him to go … We had to make a business decision, he had to respond,” Schneider said. ” … He started 14 games last year – he played great. It’s one of those deals where, again, you have you have that relationship … He knows everybody, so our culture really attracts him.”
Schneider said Reed easily could have gone to another team this offseason.
“Could he have gone somewhere else for more money? Absolutely,” Schneider said. “Did he want to come back here and be part of a special thing that we’re building right now and help us get over the top? Yeah … He was all fired up.”
OL Evan Brown
Schneider told Wyman and Bob that scouts will keep tabs on players during the preseason games as far as guys who are pending free agents. He said sometimes scouts and coaches will “size them up” before regular season games and see how they’re doing and how they interact with teammates and coaches.
That was part of how they wound up with interior offensive lineman Evan Brown, who started 24 games over the last two years for the Detroit Lions.
“With Evan Brown, it was really cool. We had our free agent meetings at the end of December/early-January, and he was the guy that really stood out (to our scouts and they) were really focused on,” Schneider said. “… This is a guy that he’s been playing guard, but ideally he’s a center. He started 47 or 48 games at SMU at center. He started (the last) two years at Detroit, he was a center (in 2021) and then they had to move him to guard … So he can play both, but he’s really truly a center. It was pretty cool to be able to identify that guy and kind of watch the process go.”
Listen to the full discussion at this link or in the player below.
