A day after the Seahawks pulled of a stunning trade with the New Orleans Saint to acquire Jimmy Graham (here’s my take on the trade in today’s Herald), general manager John Schneider went on 710 ESPN Seattle to discuss that trade and a few other topics.
Some of it is similar to what he said yesterday on a conference call with local media, but there is still plenty of good stuff to make the interview worth your time. Here’s the full interview:
A few highlights.
—Schneider emphasized that even as the Seahawks have success, they keep having to try to get better: “Nothing ends. If you’re complacent in this business, you’ll lose your job.”
—On the notion of Jimmy Graham being “soft” Schneider acknowledged that Graham isn’t a big, blocking tight end, but highlighted Graham being “an excellent athlete. His strengths are the speed and athleticism.”
“We were comfortable with the level of competitiveness and toughness that goes along with it. Now, is he a dominant run blocker? No, he’s not, but he’s a dominant pass catcher and a difference maker in the passing game.
—He said the Saints had strong interest in Max Unger, which helped lead to the trade getting done.
—Schneider said last year’s battle between the Saints and Graham over the franchise tag—New Orleans tagged him as a tight end, while Graham argued he should be considered a receiver—contributed to New Orleans’ willingness to let him go: “Last year they got in an awkward situation with him… It was an opportunity for us to get involved in the talks. Obviously if they were willing to move on, there had to be a certain level of awkwardness.”
—Graham is flying to Seattle to take his physical this afternoon, but with Unger being in Hawaii and needing to get to New Orleans, it could be a couple days before the deal is finalized.
—Schneider brought up compensatory picks a couple of times, a reminder of how much he values stockpiling picks. Compensatory picks are given to teams that lose high-level free agents more than they sign them—as an example, the Seahawks will likely get fourth to fifth-round picks in this year’s draft for Golden Tate, Brandon Browner and Breno Giacomini, who signed with other teams last year—but signing players who have already been cut doesn’t affect compensatory picks. That’s something Schneider pointed to on the signing of Cary Williams, who was released by the Eagles.
—On the Marshawn Lynch contract, Schneider said there were “some hurt feelings” because the Seahawks wouldn’t give him a new contract before the 2014 season, but reiterated that the team didn’t want to set a precedent by giving him a new deal with two years left on his contract.
Schneider also noted the deal was done in Indianapolis, implying they had it mostly worked out during the scouting combine last month.
—On salary cap issues, Schneider said it’s important not to push too many problems into the future, comparing it to spending on a credit card. “You want to try to be careful getting yourselves in those situations… I was the guy who got the Discover card in college and was like, ‘Cool, $1,000… I don’t have to pay this back.’”
—Schneider said he met with Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner’s representatives at combine and said they want to get something done, but noted they have other things to focus on first. That indicates the Seahawks are focused on free agency now, which lines up with what they’ve done in the past when they’ve signed star players like Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas to extensions in April or May.
—Schneider said the ending of the Super Bowl had nothing to do with Seattle’s decision to trade for Graham: “We went into the offseason with a plan in place, whether we won or lost. We went into that game with a plan for the offseason, and we knew we wanted to add something to our offense.”
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