TOP STORIES
Analysis
Schneider’s Green Lab Notebooks Reveal the Blueprint for Building a Second Dynasty
Albert Breer’s latest column for Sports Illustrated pulls back the curtain on something Seahawks fans have only heard whispers about: the green lab notebooks locked in a safe in John Schneider’s office. They contain nearly three decades of handwritten entries dating back to his days as a young Packers assistant. Draft night anxieties, trade regrets, negotiation strategies. All of it, in ink.
~30 Years
How long Schneider has been filling green lab notebooks with handwritten draft and trade notes.
The most revealing detail is the one that connects this championship team to the last one. Schneider told Breer he regrets including Max Unger in the 2015 Jimmy Graham trade. Not the trade itself, necessarily. Just the part where he gave up the center who held everything together. “In retrospect, he was such a centerpiece,” Schneider said. “He could’ve helped us through that process where other players couldn’t have because he was such a foundational stud.”
After Unger left, the offensive line cratered. Drew Nowak, Patrick Lewis, a revolving door at center that lasted half a decade. Schneider paid his defensive stars and watched the trenches erode. “Because you rob Peter to pay Paul,” he told Breer, “and offensive line’s a hard position to acquire anyway.” This time, all five starters are coming back. Cross and Lucas are locked in on multi-year extensions. Grey Zabel’s job is safe. The lesson from the journals is written on the current roster.
“
He could’ve helped us through that process where other players couldn’t have because he was such a foundational stud.
The Shaheed re-signing is another journal entry made real. Schneider had written after the season that he wanted Shaheed back but was prepared to lose him. Then the market softened, and he pounced. “Don’t be super passionate about the trade compensation” was the note to himself. Discipline over emotion. That’s the whole operating system.
Two weeks from Pittsburgh, the board is nearly set. The scouts are back. And somewhere in that safe, the night-before-the-draft entry is about to get a new page.
SOURCES →
Draft Intel
The Seahawks Don’t Love This Draft. That Might Be the Point.
Keep Reading ↓
Rob Staton called it months ago: this is one of the weakest classes since he started the Seahawks Draft Blog in 2008. If the prospects graded as Day 2 talents are being taken in the first round, accumulating more mid-round picks doesn’t fix the math. Sometimes discipline means not buying just because the store is open.
But the visit pipeline tells a different story than apathy. The Seahawks are doubling down on Missouri edge rusher Zion Young, scheduling a top-30 visit after already meeting him at the combine. Young is 6-foot-6, 262 pounds, posted 57 pressures and 6.5 sacks last season, and his pressure rate ranked in the 97th percentile nationally. And if Henderson’s other reporting is right that edge rusher is a genuine draft priority, Young’s profile as a run-defending, edge-setting prospect who could grow under Macdonald is worth the second look.
97th
Zion Young’s percentile ranking among all college football players in pressure rate last season.
SOURCES →
AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Seahawks.com’s O-line draft preview confirms all five 2025 starters return for 2026, including both tackles on multi-year extensions. The Unger lesson, learned. Seahawks.com
The Seahawks have met with at least 18 prospects through official and local visits heading into the draft. Four picks, 18 meetings. Schneider treats the process like a buffet even when his plate can only hold a salad. Field Gulls
Seahawks.com’s receiver draft preview notes Seattle is “ahead of the curve” at WR and unlikely to focus there. With JSN and Shaheed locked in, Schneider can afford to ignore the flashiest position group in the class. What a time. Seahawks.com
Seahawks.com says Elijah Arroyo could be poised for a bigger role in Year 2 after flashing rare athletic traits before missing the second half of the season. He came back for the Super Bowl. That’s the kind of detail Hard Knocks will eat alive. Seahawks.com
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
NFL.com’s Gennaro Filice is urging the Rams to draft a wide receiver at 13 because Davante Adams is 33, entering a contract year, and Puka Nacua’s situation remains “unclear.” The 38-year-old MVP’s window is closing and his best receiver’s future is uncertain. Sean McVay tried to trade Adams at the league meeting and couldn’t find a taker. Meanwhile, in Renton, JSN just signed through 2031 and is hosting press conferences. Some franchises plan for the future. Others just keep putting out fires.
NINERS
ESPN’s Matt Miller reports that the 49ers have been “heavily connected to wide receivers” in mock draft exercises and don’t view offensive tackle as a Round 1 priority. KC Concepcion from Texas A&M is the name to watch at 27. So the team whose franchise left tackle carries a $38.8 million cap hit with zero guaranteed dollars is going to draft a receiver and hope Trent Williams signs a pay cut out of the goodness of his heart. Meanwhile, the Chiefs remain the favorites to trade for Williams if it all falls apart. Kyle Shanahan’s contribution to the situation continues to be staying “pretty much out of that.”
CARDINALS
Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano is pitching the Packers as a trade partner for Marvin Harrison Jr., offering a second-round pick and a 2027 third. For the fourth overall pick in the 2024 draft. An agent told Jason La Canfora that “it’s all about 2027 for Arizona,” and that the Cardinals and Jets are racing for the top pick. Two seasons of Harrison have produced 103 catches and 1,493 yards total. The franchise drafted a generational receiver and somehow made him look ordinary. That takes real commitment.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
Cortez Kennedy won the 1992 AP Defensive Player of the Year award while the Seahawks finished with just a 2-14 record. It was only the third time in league history that a player from a losing team had won the award. Kennedy recorded a career-high 14 sacks that season from his defensive tackle position. How many Pro Bowl selections did Kennedy earn over his 11-season career with the Seahawks?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Cortez Kennedy was selected to eight Pro Bowls during his career with the Seattle Seahawks (1990-2000), including a franchise-record six consecutive selections from 1991 to 1996.
Got a Draft Confession?
Tell us your most embarrassing mock draft take. The one you posted on a message board in February that looks absurd now. Your secret is safe with us. (It’s not. We’ll read it on Monday.) Hit reply or find us on social.
Twelve days to Pittsburgh. The safe is locked. The notebooks are full. The pen is still moving. Go Hawks. — The Rooster