This is a very exciting time to be a Seattle sports fan.

The Mariners feel very relevant this year, and just made three significant trades before the trade deadline to put all their chips on the table to compete for the division in 2025. Long suffering Mariner fans cannot ask for more than that. If they do not reach the playoffs in the Fall, it will not be for lack of effort from their front office, and ownership. I believe they will get there, and adding Josh Nailor with now yesterday’s efforts of landing Eugenio Suarez, and Caleb Ferguson doesn’t just make them playoffs contenders, but title contenders in an American League that is a bit up for grabs.

Even the most pessimistic Mariner fan has to be getting excited these days. I know I am, and I have been a curmudgeon about the M’s for two decades now.

Overshadowed a bit by the splashy move for Suarez yesterday, the Seattle Seahawks made a big move of their own by extending GM John Schneider through 2030, tying him together their bright young head coach Mike Macdonald for the next five years. People can feel however they want to about this decision from Seahawk ownership, but they obviously felt this was vital to do, and I applaud them for it. It shows the players and fans that there is total unity and stability within the power structures of the organization, and the importance of that cannot be underestimated, in my view.

Good NFL teams have stability and harmony between their coaching staff and front office. Bad NFL teams generally do not.

On the whole, I really like the breaking news of the Seattle Seahawks extending their general manager John Schneider long term through 2030. I appreciate that there exists differing views of Schneider amongst the fanbase, and if someone wants to make a snarky remark that the team he assembled hasn’t done much in recent years, they are welcome to it. I hold a different opinion, and it is one that is heavily backed up by ESPN.

On Monday, ESPN published an extensive article that ranked the NFL teams with the best rostered talent under the age of 25. The Houston Texans with star QB CJ Stroud, corner Derek Stingly and pass rusher Will Anderson were ranked number one, but the Seattle Seahawks were ranked number two, just ahead of the Washington Commanders with Jayden Daniels (a team and QB that is a sexy pick in NFC to make a big splash in the playoffs this year).

ESPN noted that Seattle has three blue chip players on rookie contracts in WR Jaxson Smith Njigba, CB Devon Witherspoon, and DT Byron Murphy, all players that play premium positions. By definition, a blue chip player is someone with the talent to be a regular pro bowl player, as well as being All-Pro. Having that quality of talent at premium spots is a huge benefit for Seattle, and the fact that they are young gives reason for longer termed optimism for this team moving forward.

EPSN also singled out rookie QB Jalen Milroe as a player with value and potential, along with the upside talents of pass rusher Derek Hall, rookie safety/linebacker Nick Emmanwori, left tackle Charles Cross, rookie guard Grey Zabel, and running backs Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet. It is clear they appreciate what John Schneider has been doing in the draft the past few years, even if the common fan is growing a bit impatient with this process.

This, for me, is why I am fully aboard keeping John Schneider around. With final say of the draft finally placed on his shoulders instead of resting for years with Pete Carroll, Schneider is building this thing in the classic Ron Wolf Green Bay Packer way, I believe. For about four years now, since trading away Russell Wilson, Schneider has primarily been taking best players on his draft board instead of chasing needs like they did when they drafted LJ Collier and Rashaad Penny in round one years back.

In result, Seattle has stayed more competitive each year than the Vegas odds makers penciled them being before each season, and while I get it if records of 9-8 and 10-7 don’t impress fans who are pining for the old Legion Of Boom days, I, for one, appreciate watching meaningful NFL football in December instead of watching a team that is completely out of the hunt with four games in the regular season to go. Been there, and did that far too often in the nineties.

This year, I have more excitement about the Seahawks than I have in years. I believe in the new coaching staff under Mike Macdonald. I think the defense has potential this year to be very exciting. I believe that the Klint Kubiak offensive scheme can be an ideal match to the Macdonald defense, in time.

I am not thinking Super Bowl or bust for the Seahawks this year, and I don’t know if I will be thinking that next season, but we will see. If Sam Darnold guides this offense well enough, and Jalen Milroe puts in all the hard work developing behind him, I will take a ton of comfort in John Schneider continuing to draft the way he has been doing lately, though, and there are other methods to building a championship contender that are going in the favor of Seattle moving forward.

In 2026, the Seattle Seahawks will have one of the very best cap space situations in all of professional football for the first time in ages, and it even gets better in 2027. Jody Allen isn’t stupid as an NFL owner, and in my opinion, it was a smart of her to get Schneider locked in long term, and matched with the long length of Macdonald’s contract. Let these two men work together building this team with a cohesive vision. This feels right to me.

I would also say that this signing might be an indication Jody isn’t intending to sell this team anytime soon. If she is, locking Schneider down long term doesn’t feel very incentivizing, especially considering how new owners love to bring in their own regimes. Why do that to John?

Nah, I might have the total wrong read on this, but I kinda feel like this might be signaling that Jody isn’t looking to rush to sell this team in order to fulfill her late brother’s trust. If anything, extending Schneider might actually buy her time to find the right ownership group she wants this team to have, and that ownership group might even include herself.

But that is another bit of writing for another time.

For now, I am just happy about this news. It makes the Seattle Seahawks feel even more stable as an NFL franchise. I like stable.

I can now see a vision of Seattle sports in the near future that have the Mariners and Seahawks being class organizations in their respective professional sports. Two teams that entered their leagues together at the same time in the 1970’s. Rarely have I had this level of optimism with both teams simultaneously, but I do today, and this is awesome.

Go Hawks. Go M’s.