RENTON — For Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider, this is, as he put it, a “weird time right now.”
The team Schneider helped build is playing in its second-straight Super Bowl, something no franchise has done in a decade. Yet, he can’t fully appreciate that accomplishment at a time when he is worrying about free agency, extending young players like quarterback Russell Wilson and preparing for the upcoming draft.
“It’s a great thing we’re in the midst of preparing for the game and getting the organization ready to support the football operations moving down to Phoenix, but we’re also getting ready for the draft and free agency,” Schneider said not long after returning from observing Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Alabama. “The good thing is we’ve had our free agency meetings already, we did that earlier this year than we did last year and we’re having our draft meetings starting down there.”
As Schneider notes, the Seahawks got a head start on their free agency meetings, which in part resulted in the deals signed by linebacker K.J. Wright and defensive end Cliff Avril in December, keeping both of those players from hitting free agency after the season.
Last year, Schneider felt like they were behind on that process because the team was busy with trivial details like playing in the Super Bowl and having a parade afterwards to celebrate the team’s first title.
“It was a real bummer,” Schneider joked.
One of the biggest offseason priorities for Schneider and his staff won’t be adding anyone in free agency, but rather signing Wilson to a contract extension now that he’s finally eligible for a raise after being the NFL’s biggest bargain for three seasons. Schneider didn’t give specifics on how that will play out, noting they can’t yet talk to Wilson’s representation about a new deal until after the season is over.
“We don’t have a timetable,” he said. “At the appropriate time we are able to speak to his representatives and we’ll do that. We are not in a situation where we can yet.”
Another big offseason question mark is the status of running back Marshawn Lynch. While Lynch is under contract for 2015, he is due $8.5 million next year, and given his age — Lynch will be 29 next season, which is considered old for his position — there has long been speculation that this could be his last year in Seattle.
Given how well Lynch has played this year, it seems increasingly likely he will be back, and while Schneider made no guarantees, he certainly didn’t sound like somebody eager to move on from Lynch.
“He’s under contract next year,” Schneider said. “He’s a warrior. Goes out there every weekend and lays it on the line. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better running back in the National Football League.”
Schneider was then asked if he was tired with Lynch’s act, a reference to a midseason ESPN report that said management had “grown tired of his ways.”
“No,” Schneider said. “I kind of love his act.”
With Avril and Wright both signing new deals, there has been speculation that cornerback Byron Maxwell, who is in the final year of his rookie deal, may not be back — not because the Seahawks don’t like him, but rather because they might not be able to afford a player who figures to be one of the best cornerbacks on the open market.
Schneider, however, said, “That, quite frankly, is one of our first priorities is to talk to Maxie. Now, I think he, like a lot of our other unrestricted guys, is going to be highly sought after and he should be. But we would at least like to have the opportunity to retain him.”
Since Schneider generally does not talk to the media during the season, he had not previously addressed the Percy Harvin trade, but said Friday, “We took a shot for a highly explosive player. For a number of different reasons it didn’t work out and we knew that we had to resolve that situation as quickly as we could so that we could just move forward as a football team, as an organization and it was a very hard decision. One that we didn’t make over night.”
Seahawks getting healthy before Super Bowl
By the time the Seahawks took the practice field Friday, all but one player, guard J.R. Sweezy, was involved in practice. Sweezy missed the week because of an ankle injury, but should be fine next week, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said, and in fact could play if there were a game this weekend.
Safety Earl Thomas, who separated his shoulder in the NFC championship game, returned to practice Friday after sitting out the previous two days, and Carroll said, “Earl’s going to be fine for next week.”
With cornerback Richard Sherman (elbow) practicing fully all week, the Seahawks should have their entire 53-man roster available for the most important game of the season.
Carroll jokes Lane is just behind on film study
Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane made headlines Thursday when he said of New England’s All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, “I actually don’t think he’s that good.”
A day later, Carroll offered the perfect sarcastic response, deadpanning, “Jeremy just hasn’t watched film yet.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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