‘A really good f—king player’ - Highlights from inside the Seahawks draft room

We always get a few sneak peeks behind the scenes during the NFL Draft, but rarely do we get to see the extent of chaotic choreography going on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Fortunately, we have John Boyle to rectify that! He was inside the room with Schneider, Macdonald, Allen, and co. on draft night and has a start-to-finish breakdown of everything that happened along the way. He covers everything, from the great fortune of having the opportunity to stay put and draft Byron Murphy II, to the unbridled excitement that John Schneider openly expressed over trading back in the fourth round. For the full breakdown, you should check out Boyle’s full write-up, but you can read some of the highlights below!

All quotes below originally transcribed by John Boyle on the official Seattle Seahawks team website unless otherwise noted.

The first day of the draft started with the typical fanfare, but little time was wasted before the crew got down to business. Boyle noted that the team had nineteen players with a first-round grade, so they were confident that one of their guys would be available when they were on the clock. Still, we know that Schneider will at least pick up the proverbial phone.

As Schneider would tell reporters after Day 1 of the draft, the Seahawks had four offers to trade back, “good ones too.” One being discussed just after the Jets selected tackle Olumayiwa Fashanu would see the Seahawks make a pretty significant move back, resulting in less draft capital this year, but giving them a pretty nice haul in 2025. Schneider tells Teasley to ask for more than is currently being offered if they’re going to consider it.

Apparently, though, the run on offensive guys worked out really well for the team which gave them some confidence in staying put; they were rewarded for their patience!

With the 15^th pick, Indianapolis takes UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu. Hineline announces the pick to the room, then adds, “We’re on the clock.” The room breaks out in applause and cheers, after a long wait, Byron Murphy II, the player the Seahawks have been eying throughout, is still atop Seattle’s board.

As you can imagine, the defensively-minded Mike Macdonald loved this pick.

After Schneider hands the phone to Macdonald, the room erupts in applause as Macdonald tells his newest defensive lineman “Congratulations, man. Just so freakin’ happy for you, I’m so excited. I can’t wait for you to get here. Celebrate with your family, man, cherish this. This is a special moment, you should be really proud of yourself.”

Despite being retired, Steve Hutchinson is still doing his part to fortify the offensive line. Hutchinson — the man who once stood next to Walter Jones and formed what will forever be considered one of the greatest guard/tackle marriages in football history — remains a member of the team, now as a consultant. As it turns out, he was a major factor in helping to inform John Schneider’s decision to draft Christian Haynes, who Hutch seems to feel pretty confident in.

The Cowboys take Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe with the 73^rd pick, one of the two interior linemen still high on Seattle’s board, meaning it’s going to be a long, nervous wait to see if the Seahawks are going to get Christian Haynes.

In the back of the room, Hall of Fame guard Steve Hutchinson, who works for the team as a football consultant, a role that consists largely of helping evaluate offensive linemen, quietly chats with Schneider. In particular, Schneider wants Hutch’s opinion on Haynes.

“I think he’s going to be a really good (expletive) player,” Hutchinson tells Schneider.

According to Boyle’s article, the wait for their pick to arrive at 81 was an intense and stressful block of time. They knew they wanted Haynes, but kept seeing teams take linemen ahead of them. The fact that he remained on the board resulted in a quintessential Schneider moment:

“Holy cow!” Schneider shouts. “We’re getting our offensive lineman.”

Haynes is hitting the ground running, and so is offensive line coach Scott Huff.

After Macdonald and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb welcome Haynes to the team, offensive line coach Scott Huff and Haynes have the most offensive line conversation possible, skipping all pleasantries to compare notes on what each had for dinner that evening. Both had salmon, proving Haynes and the Seahawks are a perfect match… or something like that.

Heading into Day 3, fatigue was setting in, but the need to press onward meant that rest would have to wait.

Before Day 3 of the draft gets going, Schneider addresses the room, saying, “Sorry about yesterday, that was long as shit. We got a great player though.” Echoing his sentiment from before the draft started, Schneider reminds everything that Saturday of the draft “is where we make hay. This is a great day.”

So what did the team do on their self-described hay-day? Well, for starters they donned what John Schneider dubbed their “gas station shirts,” which are adorned with name patches and the painfully cool vintage Seahawks logo.

Full disclosure, I worked in a gas station for a number of years, so this one really hits home for me. Getting back to the matter at hand, Schneider finally got the trade he was hoping for on Day 3.

Seattle isn’t on the clock for long, however, because Schneider, who has built a reputation for making draft-day trades, particularly moving back to acquire more picks, announces to the room, “OK, we’re going back. Yes!”

Following the trade, one of the more peculiar events of the weekend unfolded as the team tried to (and eventually did) draft former UTEP Miners linebacker, Tyrice Knight.

When the initial call to Tyrice Knight isn’t answered, Schneider asks someone to call his agent. Teasley quickly gets Knight’s agent on the phone, at which point Schneider asks, “Are you with Tyrice?” Followed by, “Can I talk to him?”

“This is a first,” Schneider says after getting ahold of Knight. “How you doing Tyrice? It’s John Schneider with the Seahawks.”

Clearly dealing with a bad reception, Schneider is having a hard time talking to Knight. Schneider then hands off the phone to Macdonald who continues to struggle to hear Knight before the call drops, leading to another call back that finally allows Macdonald to welcome Knight to the team. Knight would later clarify on Twitter that he was “in da middle of nowhere,” leading to the issues.

If you are like me, you may have been excited to see former Michigan Wolverines tight end A.J. Barner get his name called. Ryan Grubb is excited to have him on the team, and Barner himself was confident that the team made the right decision.

“It’s going to be good to be in the same colors, buddy,” Grubb tells Barner.

Barner shows his confidence and vision for himself in his response to his new coordinator, saying, “You guys just got a steal. I waited a long time, but I’m ready to go. I’m going to do everything I can to bring this team a championship. I want to be one of the best tight ends in the league, and I’m not going to settle until I do that.”

The selection of Nehemiah Pritchett went surprisingly uneventfully, but that wouldn’t set a precedent for the remainder of the draft. The next pick led to an interesting exchange between lineman Sataoa Laumea and the coaches, as you can read below.

After Mike Macdonald greets Laumea and is met with a casual “‘Sup?” he asks if Laumea is excited. When Laumea says he is, Macdonald deadpans, “I can hear it in your voice… kind of.”

Grubb and Laumea then share pleasantries, followed by Huff taking the phone to tell Laumea, “I screwed up and didn’t recruit you out of high school, but now we’ve got you.”

“Yeah, that’s funny,” Laumea tells the former University of Washington offensive line coach. “You guys wanted me at D-tackle.”

Throughout the draft, Schneider rotated between himself and some of the other coaches and assistants in making the phone calls. The name would make the next pick is a familiar one... you know who I’m talking about — Neiko Thorpe!

Thorpe uses “Ezzz” (pronounced like a prolonged “easy”) as a greeting, as an expression, as an answer to a simple “how’s it going,” and even has those letters on a chain he wears daily, and on a hat he was wearing on this particular day. Ezzz is, he explains, a way of life, a catch-all phrase he has used since he was a kid growing up in Atlanta.

So why is Schneider calling for Thorpe? Because for the second time in as many rounds, the Seahawks are selecting an Auburn cornerback, this time D.J. James, so Schneider is going to let Thorpe, a former Auburn cornerback himself, make the call.

“Thank you for calling,” James tells Thorpe. “I’ve been waiting on y’all.”

“How do you feel about being a Seahawk, brother?” Thorpe replies. “Can’t wait to have you, bro. Congrats.”

Thorpe ends the call saying, “I’m going to introduce you to head coach Mike Macdonald. Ezzz.” The final punctuation on conversation drawing laughs from the room.

The final pick for the Seahawks may not have as much fanfare as the earlier ones, but that wouldn’t stop it from becoming a heartfelt moment of success for a player whose belief in himself paid off.

“Hey Michael, John Schneider with the Seattle Seahawks, how you doing?” Schneider says. “You had a great visit. We’re getting ready to select you here at 207, OK?”

“Oh shit, for real?” Jerrell replies.

“Oh yeah, for real!” Schneider answers.

Jerrell, who came late to the game of football after initially focusing on basketball in high school, believed in his abilities enough to stay at Findlay even after bigger programs started calling. He stayed, he would explain to the media not long after being selected, because he didn’t want another school or coaching staff getting credit for developing him when his name was eventually called in the NFL Draft.

“It means everything,” he said. “Coming from my high school, we’ve only had one NFL player get drafted and make it to the league, and I’m just excited to be the next one and show guys that are going to small schools that you can make it from a small school. You don’t have to transfer and chase NIL or chase Power 5 to make it to the NFL; you can go from wherever. I’m glad I can show the kids in the community that they can do it too, don’t sell yourself short.”

John Schneider wrapped up the draft and sent the crew home, but not without some final parting words:

“This is a going to be a blast,” he says, referring to the action that is still to come once the seventh round ends. “Let’s go.”

What action was he referring to? Undrafted free agency, of course!