A lot has been made of the mass exodus from Seattle this offseason. The team traded Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Bennett to the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles prior to deciding to release Richard Sherman.
If that wasn’t enough, both Jimmy Graham and Sheldon Richardson moved on in free agency.
Needless to say, this has caused some anxiety among Seahawks fans in the Pacific Northwest. That’s taken to a whole new level when we look at how much the division-rival Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers have improved this offseason.
In talking about the team’s strategy, Seahawks general manager John Schneider made sure to note that they are not rebuilding.
“It’s a constant reset every single year, it doesn’t stop,” Schneider said, via ESPN 710. “When I say ‘reset’ people are like, ‘Well it’s a rebuild.’ We’re not rebuilding; it’s just a reset. We’ve got some pretty good players on this football team.
Schneider could be right in that Seattle is resetting. He also has a point when it comes to teams having to reset every year. But the wholesale departures of Pro Bowl players makes this seem more like a rebuild.
What Schneider said next magnifies that even further.
“And there’s a lot of young players that people don’t necessarily – they haven’t heard their names yet,” Schneider continued.
The definition of rebuild is replacing aging and expensive veterans with players the average fan might now know.
Seattle now heads into draft season with just one pick in the first three rounds. Considered one of the top general managers in the game, Schneider will have to work his magic to do something with that.