A Super Bowl-winning executive is staying in Seattle for the rest of the decade.
The Seahawks have agreed to an extension with general manager John Schneider through 2031, the team announced on Wednesday.
"The extension of general manager John Schneider's contract is a testament to his 15-plus years of football leadership and success," Jody Allen, chair of the Seahawks, said in a statement. "I am confident that John will continue to deliver real results and a continued strong partnership with head coach Mike Macdonald that is already contributing to our winning culture on and off the field."
Seattle is entering a season that could include some additional scrutiny because of the decisions Schneider made during the offseason. He started by surprising most of the football world when he traded veteran quarterback Geno Smith to the Raiders and followed that up by signing 2024 darling Sam Darnold, marrying the quarterback with coach Mike Macdonald's new offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak.
The move was a calculated risk that Seattle hopes pays off but also doesn't carry the chance of organizational devastation. In what might be seen as a savvy move, Schneider signed Darnold to a contract that includes an opportunity for the Seahawks to cut ties after one year with minimal salary cap penalty. If Seattle were to trade or release Darnold after June 1, 2026, it would save $27.5 million of his $33.9 million cap number in 2026, effectively making 2025 a prove-it season for Schneider's new plan.
The GM has earned the cachet needed to take such a risk. Hired in 2010 as one half of a new regime with coach Pete Carroll, Schneider quickly transformed the Seahawks into a contender thanks to a bevy of aggressive moves. After consecutive 7-9 seasons in 2010 and 2011, Seattle enjoyed back-to-back runs to the Super Bowl in 2013 and 2014, triumphing in dominant fashion over the high-powered Denver Broncos in their first appearance in Super Bowl XLVIII.
That win stands as Schneider's greatest achievement, a victory earned on the backs of Seattle's vaunted Legion of Boom defense that included three-time All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman and the excellent safety tandem of Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. The GM also acquired star running back Marshawn Lynch -- author of the memorable postseason touchdown run known forever as the "BeastQuake" -- and struck gold in his third draft when he spent the 75th overall pick on Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson, a future 10-time Pro Bowler who won the starting job in his first training camp and became the face of Seattle's offense for the next decade.
As is the case with every title contender in the salary cap era, Schneider's masterpiece eventually required retooling. He moved on from many of the team's key contributors near the end of the 2010s, wisely traded Wilson to Denver for a haul of draft capital and supplied Carroll with Smith, who ascended to the starting job in Carroll's final two seasons before the coach and Seattle mutually agreed to part ways.
Since then, the Seahawks have lingered on the edge of the postseason, missing the playoffs in 2023 and again in 2024 after hiring Macdonald as head coach.
Schneider's big swing at quarterback carries the potential to propel them back to the postseason. If it doesn't work out, Wednesday's news suggests it won't cost Schneider his job.
