I really don't understand the distress that people have over the Seahawks not signing FA's and the wild conclusions that "it's because of the staff". Or Mike is not it because we haven't signed anyone! That talk is completely nonsensical.
Want to know the truth? It's going to blow your mind. We haven't signed anyone because we haven't offered them money! Players care about the money first and foremost. Why else do you think FA's are signing onto the worst teams, with the worst cultures in the NFL? Some of these teams being being perennial losers at this point. Money is the ONLY thing that matters in most cases and we aren't offering it up.
Why aren't we offering it up? First and foremost, spending big in the FA has never really been Schneiders MO. He's always preferred to take of our own guys first and foremost that fit the team moving forward (Williams) then from there picking up second tier FAs. Schneider was one of the top ranking executives under Ron Wolfe at GB. Those guys almost never tested the FA waters. Even here in Seattle, we've generally avoided the first round of the FA frenzy and went for more value propositions.
We also have to understand that on paper Seattle has money, but we also have the least amount of players signed in the NFL. We also have the highest dead cap hit of any team aside from the Broncos. We never were going to be major players in the FA this year. The main priority this period was the right the books. Our team was in a horrid position salary cap wise both this year and in the future. That's we designated Jamal Adams as a Pre June 1st cut, rather than shifted that cap hit into the future. That alone should tell you that the FA this year was never was going to be a huge priority.
In addition, many of the players we didn't sign either got huge contracts (Parkinson, Lewis) or were mismatches for the teams new system (Brooks).
The Seahawks not signing FA's has nothing to do with Mike MacDonald's and his staff's reputation. The only thing that really matters in regards to the FA's is overall fit into what the team is trying to do.
This years FA period has all been about setting the teams finances in the future to be able to get a blue chip player should we chose to do it in the future. This team is realistically not going to compete for a SB this year.