As the Seattle Seahawks embark on their quest to become only the third team this century to repeat as Super Bowl champions, they do so with an ownership change hanging over the organization’s head.
But as general manager John Schneider spoke with reporters at the combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday, six days after it was announced that Jody Allen has officially put the Seahawks up for sale, he conveyed an expectation that the situation won’t have much of an impact on Seattle’s offseason.
Specifically, Schneider was asked whether the sale process will impact his day-to-day job in any way, such as his time demands or budget.
“No,” he said. “I had a great talk with Jody the other night and she’s like, ‘Let’s go for it, let’s rip it.’ It’s just business as usual for us. Business as usual and all football.”
Schneider, though, said he plans to meet this week with Denver Broncos general manager George Paton for advice on the sale process, as Paton went through it in 2022 when that organization was sold.
Schneider answered “no” when asked later if he expects anything to change in terms of the team’s free agent spending with a sale on the horizon. He also said he doesn’t know whether Allen — who controls the team as the chairperson of the estate of her late brother, Paul — will still be in charge when next season begins.
In its announcement last week, the estate said the sale process is “estimated” to continue through the 2026 offseason. No news has emerged since then about potential buyers.
The more pressing matter for Schneider and the Seahawks is trying to keep together the roster that won a club-record 14 games during the regular season and three more in the playoffs to secure the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy. Schneider knows it won’t be easy, with six key players set to become unrestricted free agents.
That group is headlined by running back Kenneth Walker III, the MVP of Seattle’s 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. Also set to become free agents are wide receiver/Pro Bowl kick returner Rashid Shaheed, cornerbacks Riq Woolen and Josh Jobe, safety Coby Bryant and outside linebacker Boye Mafe.
“It’s going to be a challenge to figure this year’s puzzle out,” Schneider said. “It’s a really cool team and they’re all special people. So we’re going to try to retain as many of those guys as we possibly can. As long as we can keep that … that collective 70 together.”
Schneider shared a similar sentiment about viewing free agent decisions through the lens of the entire roster — 53 active players and 17 on the practice squad — while answering an earlier question on Walker.
“We’d love to have Ken back, and he knows this better than anybody — it’s about our 70 and our collective and what that’s going to look like,” he said. “We’ll have those meetings down here. We’ll start talking to all the agents and we’ll have a better feel of where we’re going towards the end of the week. We want to have everybody back. Right when you get done with something special like that, you’re like, ‘Let’s run it back. Let’s run it back.’ It’s going to be an interesting process.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported last week that Seattle does not plan to use the franchise or transition tag on Walker. Schneider declined to comment Tuesday on a potential tag.
The Seahawks entered the offseason with a healthy cap situation. OverTheCap.com projects them to have roughly $59 million in effective cap space, sixth most in the NFL. However, in addition to their six key free agents as well as the uncertainty over whether 33-year-old defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence will retire, they have two star players in line for massive raises.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba are both eligible for extensions that would likely put them at or near the top of the pay scale at their respective positions. Schneider confirmed Tuesday that the organization’s rule of not redoing contracts with more than one year remaining will not preclude extensions this offseason for either of its two first-round picks from 2023, as 2027 would be an option year if exercised.
That rule would, however, apply to quarterback Sam Darnold, who has two years left on the three-year, $100.5 million deal he signed last March.
ESPN’s Ben Baby contributed to this report.