The Seattle Seahawks entered the offseason with clear weaknesses at both offensive guard positions. Despite that, general manager John Schneider did not sign a veteran interior blocker in free agency capable of making a difference in 2025. The Seahawks pondered signing multiple guards, even hosting them on free-agent visits. They ultimately passed on every opportunity.
Schneider’s lone big-time acquisition at guard occurred during the 2025 NFL draft when he selected Grey Zabel in the first round. Zabel will be an instant starter at left guard this season. The right-sided spot will be decided by another competition between Anthony Bradford and Christian Haynes.
ESPN recently wrote an article grading all 32 offseasons. They awarded the Seahawks a B-. Especially notable was their disdain for how Schneider approached the guard position.
“At the time of the DK Metcalf trade, I was confident Seattle was going to use some of its newfound found cap space on a free agent guard,” Seth Walder wrote. “I was wrong. While the Seahawks spent their first-round pick on guard Grey Zabel, they did not sign a free agent at the position (they did add tackle Josh Jones, who has played guard in the past).
“Instead, they appear poised to start Anthony Bradford or Christian Haynes at guard, which was a missed opportunity considering players such as Teven Jenkins, James Daniels and Mekhi Becton signed for relatively cheap and Will Hernandez is still available.”
Schneider showed legitimate interest in Will Fries, the premier free-agent guard, but was uncomfortable with signing him without him submitting to a physical after he suffered a season-ending injury last year. The Minnesota Vikings were fine with that, signing Fries to a massive deal. Schneider also hosted several guards on visits such as Teven Jenkins and Dillon Radunz. Jenkins ended up in Cleveland, and Radunz went to New Orleans.
Hopefully Schneider’s offseason decisions at guard don’t hamstring the offense in 2025.