Could the Lions be on the verge of sending “shockwaves” across the NFL, something the team hasn’t been very prone to doing, well ever, at least not in any positive aspect?
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Lions may be planning to make a run at Seattle GM John Schneider for their own vacant GM position a move that would certainly open some eyes across the rest of the League.
Sources say the Lions plan to pursue Seahawks GM John Schneider for their vacant GM opening, a hire that would send shockwaves around the NFL.
One of the league’s most respected personnel people and managers, Schneider has teamed with head coach Pete Carroll to lead Seattle to two Super Bowls with one win and make the organization a perennial playoff participant. The Seahawks are 111-63-1 in the Carroll-Schneider era and 11-4 this season, winning the NFC West a fifth time.
NFL.com
Obviously, some of the bigger questions would be why would Schneider even think about leaving the Seahawks — one of the more successful teams in the league over the last decade for the Lions — one of the worst franchises in all of professional sports?
Well there’s a few reasons.
- 1. A raise. Schneider isn’t leaving the Seahawks without any significant raise to his current salary.
- 2. A promotion. Schneider, although a GM doesn’t have control over personnel decisions with the Seahawks. That power lies with head coach Pete Carroll. Rapoport notes Carroll’s power with personnel decisions doesn’t pose any problems in their working relationship since they always seem to be in “lockstep” with each other, however, it should be enticing to be given full control over the football operations of an NFL team.
- 3. The Ford family. Yeah I said it and I understand, they’re terrible NFL owners from a fan perspective. From an executive perspective though they’re probably pretty awesome relatively speaking considering they’re for the very most part hands-off, generally give their executives free rein, and are loyal to a fault.
Schneider currently has one-year left (after this season) in his deal with the Seahawks so if the Lions did have their eyes set on him it would come at a cost that would also benefit Seattle. That means Detroit would probably have to essentially trade for Schneider, something that is rare but not unheard of in the NFL.
For instance, the Patriots essentially had to trade for Bill Belichick in that bizarre set of circumstances back in 2000 that resulted in the New York Jets receiving a first-round pick from the Patriots.
In 2002, the Buccaneers also executed a high-stakes trade with the Raiders that netted them, Jon Gruden. In exchange, Tampa Bay sent Oakland two first-round picks in 2002 and 2003, two second-round picks in 2002 and 2004 plus $8 million dollars in cash.
Both moves obviously turned out for the better for the Patriots and Buccaneers as Belichick went on to win multiple Super Bowls with New England and is undoubtedly one of the best NFL head coaches of all-time. Gruden also went on to win a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay and is currently still the all-time wins leader with that organization.
If the Lions were able to terms on a contract with Schneider (which wouldn’t count towards any cap) Seattle would then have to release the GM once compensation was settled on with Detroit which could look like draft picks and/or money going the other way to the Seahawks.
Here’s also a couple of interesting notes:
Sure, he would be able to leave Seattle for Detroit with the year left on his contract. It’s still assumed that the Lions would have to give up some kind of compensation to Seattle fo Schneider given the year left on his deal with the Seahawks.
Hiring Schneider would further reaffirm Detroit’s interest in San Francisco’s Robert Saleh for their head coaching vacancy. Bevell too is an interesting note, although I can’t imagine Detroit holding onto Bevell if they have the opportunity to hire Saleh. Nor is it a given that Bevell sticks around in some assistants role, you’d think that would ultimately be left up to the new head coach since I don’t think anyone is taking on that job if they can’t hire their own staff.