John Schneider’s trip to Laramie, Wyoming to view the pro day of quarterback Josh Allen on March 23 apparently seemed to raise some eyebrows among Russell Wilson’s inner circle.
But the Seahawks General Manager may have just been scratching a curiosity itch more than anything else. According to Aaron Levine of Q13 in Seattle, Schneider said he wanted to see Allen throw in person after missing a chance to view him during the college season.
“I hadn’t seen him play live,” Schneider said. “I was supposed to see him play in San Jose before we played San Francisco and he was injured and didn’t play in the game, so I just wanted to go check him out.”
Allen injured his right shoulder two weeks earlier against Air Force and missed the game against San Jose State while the Seahawks were in town to play the San Francisco 49ers.
It’s also worthwhile to have as much information available on possible prospects in case they hit the free agent market in coming seasons or when your team has to play them during the year. If Allen somehow ended up with the Arizona Cardinals, for instance, it would behoove Seattle to have as much background as possible on a divisional rival.
Wilson is Seattle’s quarterback for 2018. No discussion whatsoever. His contract only runs through 2019 and negotiations for a new deal could become contentious, though they could always use the franchise tag, if necessary. However, the Seahawks likely won’t have the opportunity to select Allen even if they wanted to. They currently hold the 18th pick in the draft and don’t have second or third round picks to use to trade up. Unless an Aaron Rodgers situation occurs where Allen unexpectedly falls to the latter stages of the first round, Seattle won’t have the chance to select Allen anyway.
So any furor over Schneider’s trip to Wyoming would seem to be misplaced. For now, it appears Schneider was merely taking the chance to see a player he hadn’t been able to watch during the season, which seems to be a good way to live up to the job description.