The Seahawks have been busy in recent days, signing several free agents and agreeing to a trade with Washington for quarterback Sam Howell. Not long after agreeing to that trade, Seahawks general manager/president football of operations, John Schneider joined Seattle Sports 710AM for his regular offseason appearance with Dave Wyman and Bob Stelton to discuss the moves.
Here is what Schneider had to say about some of the moves the Seahawks has made this week:
On the trade to acquire Sam Howell: "We were kind of sweating that this morning talking to the Commanders and Adam Peters, their general manager. We were sweating that out, there were several teams involved with it. Sam's a football player, I think that's the best way to describe it. I know everybody saw him play out here, he had a great day against us this past fall. He's a quarterback, but he's really a football player, that's what I love about him. Really tough, young, he's 23 years old and has 18 starts in the league already. He's the same age as (Jayden) Daniels from LSU, (Spencer) Rattler, and (Michael) Penix, and he's a year younger than Bo Nix. We're just really excited to be able to acquire him. We know he's a serious dude, he's into it, he works his tail off, we got great reviews on him, and we loved him coming out of college. We're happy to get him in the mix. Geno is the guy, and Sam will be backing him up."
Schneider noted the performance had in the Commanders' 2023 loss in Seattle made an impression on the Seahawks, saying, "The game he played here, it hit home how tough he was, how strong he was, keeping his eyes down field, finding the open receiver, and almost winning the game there at the end. He's young, he's smart, he's tough. He's just a football player. I keep going back to that, but it's a legit thing."
Asked further about his comment that Howell will be Smith's backup, Schneider added, "Well I'm sure there's competition, but it's not like we're signing him to go and compete with Geno to be the starter. But he's going to be giving it a run, he's a competitive guy."
On re-signing DE Leonard Williams: "He's a great fit for (Mike Macdonald's) defense. He can play from the zero (technique) to the three to the five. He can move him around. We were a little nervous there for a minute, the defensive tackle market was exactly what people said at the combine, and actually a little higher. We hung in there, his agents did a great job of working with us. Leonard was in Bali and flew all the way out here to sign his contract. He was obviously our priority, we gave up a second-round pick for him last year, so that was very important. Just thrilled to get him back in the building."
On re-signing TE Noah Fant and the addition of TE Pharaoh Brown: "(Fant) can be a special threat as a tight end in the passing game, so pairing him with Pharaoh Brown—Pharaoh in our opinion is one of the top two or three blocking tight ends in the National Football League, he brings a nastiness to us—so those two guys' skillsets are going to be really nice. Those two guys working together is going to be a great fit."
Asked more about Brown, Schneider added, "He's a guy that can take care of the C-gap, he can block down, he's nasty. He's going to bring a toughness to our offense. He's a tempo-setter. He's a little bit of an old soul that way. He's going to fight you and not back down, and I think that's going to rub off on our offensive identity."
On signing OT George Fant: "He did a really nice job last year down in Houston. He can play left tackle, he can play right tackle, he's played a little guard in the past. We know him very well, obviously. He's a great guy, he was really excited to be back in the building, it was great to see his smiling face today. He's a great competitor and a really good dude. It was pretty neat to see him hugging all the people in the building that he's missed over the years. So he was excited to get back. His role will be as a utility offensive tackle."
On signing S Rayshawn Jenkins: "He played a lot of one-high this year for them, then played down in the box as well. He's been known more as a strong safety, but really aggressive, he was the second guy to wear the dot (signifying the defensive play-caller) if a linebacker left the game, he would have been able to call it for them. A smart football player. We'll play probably more two-high or split safeties this year, and he has the ability to do both. He's an extremely disruptive player, we loved him out of college. He was college teammates with Artie Burns, then we've watched him with the Chargers and with Jacksonville. He came here and visited, and was down San Francsico, so thank God for those California state taxes, right?"
The Seahawks agreed to terms with tight end Pharaoh Brown to a one-year contract on March 13, 2024. Brown signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Oregon following the 2017 NFL Draft and has spent time with the Browns, Texans and most recently the New England Patriots.
Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) tries to fake out South Dakota defensive back Steve Tellefsen (17) during the third quarter of an NCAA college football game in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014 (AP Photo/Ryan Kang)
Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown, left, catches a touchdown pass next to California cornerback Darius White during the second half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Oct. 24, 2014, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Oregon's Pharaoh Brown (85) catches a pass during the first half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game against Ohio State Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown (85), scores a touchdown in the first quarter against Arizona State in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016 in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Thomas Boyd)
Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) runs towards the end zone during the second quarter against Washington in an NCAA college football game in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Ryan Kang)
Oregon wide receiver Darren Carrington, left, celebrates his touchdown with tight end Pharaoh Brown during the second half of the Rose Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal against Florida State, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine Saturday, March 4, 2017, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Oregon tight end Pharaoh Brown runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Oakland Raiders tight end Pharaoh Brown (81) during an NFL preseason football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Oakland Raiders tight end Pharaoh Brown during NFL football practice Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018, in Napa, Calif. Both the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions held a joint practice before their upcoming preseason game on Friday. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Cleveland Browns tight end Pharaoh Brown catches a pass during an NFL football organized team activity session at the team's training facility, Thursday, May 30, 2019, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Cleveland Browns tight end Pharaoh Brown (86) catches a pass during practice at the NFL football team's training facility Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
Cleveland Browns tight end Pharaoh Brown (86) signals first down against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL preseason football game Friday, Aug. 23, 2019, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Cleveland Browns tight end Pharaoh Brown, center, is brought down by Baltimore Ravens defensive back Chuck Clark, left, and strong safety Tony Jefferson during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Brien Aho)
Cleveland Browns tight end Pharaoh Brown (86) warms up before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) makes a catch in front of Jacksonville Jaguars middle linebacker Joe Schobert (47) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) during warm-ups before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown warms up during pregame of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) carries the ball after a reception as he fights off defenders during an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/Matt Patterson)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) is tackled by Tennessee Titans linebacker David Long Jr. during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) warms up before an NFL preseason football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Justin Rex)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) catches a pass for a first down as Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard (42) defends during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown (85)stiff arms Arizona Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck (45) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Houston Texans tight end Pharaoh Brown (85) during an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Justin Rex )
Cleveland Browns tight end Pharaoh Brown (84) tries to evade New England Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai (48) after making a catch during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
Cleveland Browns tight end Pharaoh Brown (84) in action during the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Cleveland Browns tight end Pharaoh Brown warms up before an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
New England Patriots tight end Pharaoh Brown (86) runs for a touchdown during the first half an NFL football game against the New York Jets on Sunday Sept. 24, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)
