That’s the way I’m seeing it. No swing for the fences trades for flawed players giving up 1’s and 2’s. IMO, the Shaheed trade shows the JS GM skills. He gave a 2 for Big Cat, which was clearly worth it.
I think Pete got kinda lazy, working on ways to manage the cap rather than develop players.
Pete's pattern was pursuing shiny objects while neglecting the trenches and failing in the due diligence on character and talent evaluation.
I remember Pete justifying the Harvin trade by calling him a first round talent acquired for a good price and better than anything the hawks could get in the draft. Similar BS rationale for overpaying for Jamal Adams. Don't recall the rationale for the Cary Williams fiasco.
Pete apparently repeatedly overruled Schneider repeatedly on the shiny object calls, while failing to do proper due dilgence and talent evaluation.
Harvin's character red flags were readily discoverable prior to the acquisition. After Harvin, John truly learned to screen for Harvin's type of Mental Illness and avoid
Drafting Eskridge another failed talent eval on Pete's part, and failed character evaluation as well, not as bad as the Harvin Fail, but Eskridge didn't have the smarts or the work habits to succeed at the NFL level.
I love it when John/Mac's trade acquisitions and draft picks get interviewed, and it's obvious listening to them talk that they are very smart, football savvy, and highly motivated, and team-first guys, to a one. EJ IV, Shaheed, Kupp, Witherspoon, Zabel, Lawence. And just as impressive, John choosing wisely who to pay and who to let move on. ME-me-me meathead DK, let's his team down while team-first guy JSN lights it up, still on his rookie deal Don't even mind an occasional "miss" because John's misses just haven't been costly. Today CB Mike Jackson played well for Carolina, and even got a pick, and JS traded him "for a bag of chips" as Jackson said. Jobe and Okada among others bringing it, applause for Jackson, but not a painful miss, G Damien Lewis, decent player, but JS chose not to over pay him, Tyler, cap casualty, always got love for Tyler, but it was time.
I wonder about picks like Arroyo, still TBD, while 4th rounder AJ Barner just keeps making huge timely plays and seems to catch everything thrown to him. Maybe Arroyo will develop more after his rookie season, but it's clear why Barner is getting starter reps, and it's not just Arroyo's injury. A swing, and maybe a hit with guys like Rylie Mills. Can bet that JS did due diligence on Mills character before drafting him, like "does this guy have the mental toughness and persistence to work through the rehab of this ACL injury, and overcome setbacks, to get to where he can be a legit NFL player? Seeing Mills get live fire reps against the Rams, looks like the answer is YES!. even a lot of small wins that stack up, extending Eric Saubert, a week or two before he makes one of the biggest plays in Seahawks regular season history, betting on Saubert because "he approaches the game the right way." Big win with Leonard Williams, making that 2nd round trade price look like a bargain.
JS wears suspended LB Derick Hall's jersey at the Carolina game, another small win, little stuff that can make a difference at contract talks time, all other things being equal, many players will choose the team that has their back.
on JS not chasing that shiny object.
