Seahawks general manager John Schneider now has the final say over all personnel decisions. However, the team would not have hired Mike Macdonald as their new head coach they weren’t planning to give him at least some input on roster construction. Already we can see one dramatic change in the organization’s team-building philosophy and it’s arguably related to Macdonald’s influence given where he’s coming from.
During the Pete Carroll years Seattle never made much use of the compensatory pick bucket. This year the team has exactly zero comp picks based on what they did in free agency in 2023. That’s in stark contrast to how things are done in Baltimore, where Macdonald is coming from. No other NFL team has made better use of the comp picks system than the Ravens over the years, and the Seahawks may soon be following suit.
According to Over the Cap’s projections, Seattle is currently on track to get four comp picks in next year’s draft:
- Fourth-round pick for LG Damien Lewis to Panthers
- Fifth-round pick for LB Jordyn Brooks to Dolphins
- Sixth-round pick for LB Bobby Wagner to Commanders
- Sixth-round pick for TE Colby Parkinson to Rams
Paying Lewis what Carolina was willing to was never a realistic option – and if you think they should have then you have bigger problems than comp picks. One could argue that Brooks was worth the deal he got from Miami – and Schneider’s bizarre answer about why they couldn’t re-sign him doesn’t help his case. However, there is a good argument for letting Brooks walk and hitting the reset button at linebacker – the same principle goes for Bobby Wagner and Washington. Getting anything for Parkinson leaving is just gravy.
Carroll had his strong points to be sure, but this is the right way to build a team and stay competitive in the long run in the modern NFL.
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