Presented by

Seahawks Roundup: News From The NFL Annual Meetings

All the Seahawks news you might have missed this week.

Mar 29, 2024 at 10:56 AM

Ari Horton

Seahawks.com Writer

Good morning, 12s. Here's a look at what's going on out there and any news you might have missed, about your Seattle Seahawks this week.

General manager and president of football operations, John Schneider, and head coach Mike Macdonald spent the early part of this week in Orlando at the NFL's annual meeting. Here's all the news from the meeting about the Seahawks.

After the Seahawks traded for Sam Howell, there might have been some questions about whether he'd be competing fot the starting quarterback spot with Geno Smith, but both Schneider and Macdonald reiterated and made it clear that Smith is the Seahawks' starter. "Geno's our guy," Schneider said. And Macdonald echoed that, "Geno's going to go into camp, he's the starter, really excited about that."

Schneider says that aquiring Howell gives the Seahawks more flexibility in the upcoming draft, not feeling the pressure to draft a backup quarterback. "It frees you up so you don't feel like you have to—we didn't have a second-round pick, so you're locked a little bit," Schneider said.

While the quarterback position is figured out, there is a position group that both Schneider and Macdonald acknowledged needs work – the offensive line. Specifically the interior. After guard Damien Lewis signed with the Carolina Panthers and center Evan Brown signed with the Arizona Cardinals, the Seahawks signed guard Tremayne Anchrum Jr., who played with the Los Angeles Rams last season and center Nick Harris, who played with the Cleveland Browns last season. "We have a lot to figure out there," Schneider said.

Another position group that is more fleshed out than offense but Macdonald wants to see re-worked is the defense.

"It's still coming together, but the middle of the defense is really, really important," Macdonald said. "You need a strong spine and we're excited about the guys we have. Guys that I haven't coached yet, but watching them on tape and the relationships that some of our coaches have with them, feel really strongly about it and I think we'll be really strong up the middle."

"I'm really excited about the guys we brought in," Schneider said about the free agent signings. "I'm really excited about the guys on the roster. If the right opportunity presents itself to make us better, we won't hesitate to pull the trigger, but I think going in we're very confident in the guys we have. We have some position flexibility, more so than we might have had in the past. Being able to change up some fronts with the same personnel on the field will be exciting. Guys that can play multiple spots across the line, we'll have some cool combinations of people on the field at the same time. That will be fun to figure out with (defensive coordinator) Aden Durde as we go. He's got some cool ideas we'll experiment with as we get rocking. It's going to be a lot of fun. We've got a lot of talent up there."

And although Macdonald is still learning everything there is to know about being a head coach, one thing that is set in stone is the championship mindset he'll bring week in and week out. "We are going to line up every week expecting to win, and if you do that you are going to win a championship," Macdonald said. "So that's where my mentality is. We are getting ready to go play a football game even though it's three or four months out. And whoever lines up across from us, we are expecting to win that matchup. If you don't have that mentality, you are not going to get very far in this league."

More from Around The Web

Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic: Seahawks takeaways from the owners’ meetings: O-line and quarterbacks in focus

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times: 4 takeaways on the state of the Seahawks after the NFL league meetings

Timm Hamm of Sports Illustrated: Seahawks Most Desperate Position Group Per Mike Macdonald

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times: Mike Macdonald sets high bar as his Seahawks plan ‘is coming to life’

John Boyle of Seahawks.com: Mike Macdonald Heads Into First Season With Seahawks With High Expectations

John Boyle of Seahawks.com: Geno Smith Is The Seahawks' Starting QB, But Sam Howell Has "Really Cool Upside"

John Boyle of Seahawks.com: Mike Macdonald Wants Revamped Seahawks Defense To "Build A Wall Up The Middle"

Ari Horton of Seahawks.com: 5 Things To Know About Seahawks Guard Tremayne Anchrum Jr.

Social Post Of The Day

In March Madness fashion, the Seahawks pulled some photos from George Fant's college basketball playing days at Western Kentucky.

From college basketball to the NFL. 🔥@GeorgeFant74 | @WKUBasketball pic.twitter.com/ZMX9MXD3A8
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) March 28, 2024

PHOTOS: Head Coach Mike Macdonald Represents Seahawks At 2024 Annual League Meetings

The NFL held their annual league meeting from March 24, 2024 through March 26, 2024. The league holds these meetings each offseason in order to decide on various rules changes and implement new strategies to improve the game. Check out some of the best photos of the head coaches from the meetings.