Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider held their annual pre-draft press conference yesterday, one week from the 2023 NFL draft. While they didn’t reveal specific plans for the draft, we nonetheless learned a lot about what comes next for this franchise.
Here are six takeaways from yesterday’s news.
1
Dates for next phase of offseason program
Seahawks players reported to the VMAC this week for the first phase of the team’s offseason program, which is all conditioning work.
Yesterday the team revealed the dates for the next phase of the offseason.
Seattle announced that their rookie minicamp will be held from May 12-14 and their mandatory minicamp will be June 6-8.
2
Injury updates
Coach Carroll also shared a few notable injury updates.
– Starting tight end Will Dissly suffered a knee injury in the team’s embarrassing loss to the Chiefs on Christmas eve and was placed on IR. Carroll says he should be ready for training camp, though.
– Inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks suffered an ACL tear in Week 17 against the Jets. Carroll says he is “optimistic” about returning for training camp. This is directly contrary to recent reporting that suggested Brooks may miss the entire 2023 season.
– Strong safety Jamal Adams played 15 brilliant snaps against the Broncos in Week 1 before he suffered a “serious” torn quad that ended his season. Carroll says he’s also optimistic about being returning for training camp.
3
Seahawks have taken calls about No. 5 pick
Carroll and Schneider also shared a lot of information about their process before and during the NFL draft.
For one thing, Schneider says the team has taken “periphery” calls from teams who are looking to trade up to the No. 5 overall pick. Schneider said those calls pick up in intensity during the two days leading up to the first night of the draft.
Among the teams that are reportedly interested in moving up in Round 1 are the Steelers (No. 17), Vikings (No. 23) and the Titans (No. 11).
4
Looking for "true Seahawks"
Schneider also admitted that over the years he and Carroll have added fewer overall players on their draft board because things got too “cluttered” at the bottom end of it.
Now, Schneider says they are really zeroed in on finding prospects who they consider to be “true Seahawks.”
Whatever that means is open to interpretation. However, Carroll and Schneider have both made more of a public emphasis recently on drafting high character prospects – making those with red and yellow flags off the field less likely to be picked. In theory. It’s one thing to say you only want guys with no issues and it’s another to pass on a Jalen Carter if he’s still available at No. 5.
5
A sad cap reality
Seattle’s depth chart hasn’t looked this thin since Carroll and Schneider began their dramatic overhaul of the roster back in 2010. With one week to go before the draft, the team only has 52 players currently on the roster. Schneider admitted that this is due to their cap reality.
That reality is the Seahawks have less effective cap space than any other team in the NFL right now and will have to either make some cuts or get creative with a few of their bigger contracts just in order to afford signing their rookies.
One side effect fans should expect from that is a very large class of undrafted free agents. They’ve been a big part of the roster-building process in the past and will have to be more than ever this year.
6
Draft board nearly finished
Finally, Schneider says that the scouts have completed their work on the team’s draft board for this year. Carroll and his staff will “comb” it over during the weekend. Schneider says he and Carroll will present their draft plan to team owner Jody Allen on Tuesday night.
The draft is scheduled to begin on Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. Pacific time.
