John Schneider is on a 12-month win streak

John Schneider has been building something since the moment he traded his franchise QB.

John Schneider has unleashed fury on the rest of the NFL, pivoting from his former genius of giving Luke Joeckel $8 million to signing elite pass rushers and starting centers in the first week of free agency. The Seattle Seahawks have their foot on the gas, continuing something that a year and a week ago nobody saw coming.

I believe it started with Quandre Diggs.

The shock of the Russell Wilson trade lasted up until the moment the Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos in Week 1 of the 2022 season. In the midst of all that, Quandre Diggs signed a three-year extension not one week following The Trade.

As the most talented player on defense besides Jamal Adams, and the only one able to play full seasons, the immediate question was why and/or how Diggs was willing to stay with a team that many thought was about to win four games?

Looking at this week, knowing what we know about Pete Carroll, one can imagine the conversation that might have taken place which led to one of the defensive captains staying with Seattle despite nationwide skepticism.

Carroll came out that year and said it wasn’t a rebuild.

Most laughed.

But all that was before a ridiculous draft, before they added Uchenna Nwosu, before Geno Smith became incredible.

Speaking of Smith, he’s part of this conversation as well. The one we’ll never hear about, but which undoubtedly stems from Carroll’s remarkable ability to instill belief. Geno Smith is fresh off a campaign that’s not really been assembled in NFL history, and returned to the team that believed in him via a contract of vastly different style than his predecessor.

I believe every player that’s joined (or re-joined) the team since Diggs has believed first in Pete Carroll, and second that they would legitimately be part of a contender. As crazy as that seemed last March, the momentum has only grown to today.

Now, it’s been 12 months of managerial home runs, and this very atypical Seattle offseason makes a lot more sense if you consider that it really began a year ago. Somehow, Schneider and Carroll truly believed they weren’t that far off. That believe has propelled them into signing five starting-caliber players in the first week of free agency in Dre’Mont Jones, Devin Bush, Evan Brown, Jarran Reed, and Julian Love.

Now, pending one or two more positions of need, Schneider and the Hawks will turn their attention to a boatload of draft picks and really go for this thing.