The Seattle Seahawks received some of the strongest front-office praise in the NFL this week, with Rotoworld’s Patrick Daugherty ranking general manager John Schneider as the No. 2 GM in football in his 2026 NFL GM rankings.
The only executive ranked ahead of Schneider was Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. That put Schneider ahead of several high-profile team-builders, including the Los Angeles Rams’ Sean McVay/Les Snead pairing, Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta, Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach and San Francisco 49ers coach/GM tandem Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch.
For Seattle, the ranking was not just a nod to past success. It was a statement about Schneider’s second act.
Daugherty pointed to Schneider’s ability to build a championship roster in two separate Seahawks eras, first alongside Pete Carroll and now with head coach Mike Macdonald. He wrote that Schneider’s post-Carroll success has been “abnormal,” highlighting his hiring of Macdonald, roster reconstruction and willingness to empower his young head coach.
John Schneider Ranked Ahead of Every Other NFC West GM Except No One
The NFC West showed up prominently in the top 10, but Schneider still came out on top.
Here is how the division stacked up in Rotoworld’s rankings:
| NFC West Team | GM/Front Office | NFL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle Seahawks | John Schneider | No. 2 |
| Los Angeles Rams | Sean McVay/Les Snead | No. 3 |
| San Francisco 49ers | Kyle Shanahan/John Lynch | No. 8 |
| Arizona Cardinals | Monti Ossenfort | No. 28 |
That is a major distinction for Seattle. The Rams were close behind at No. 3, with Daugherty crediting McVay and Snead for keeping Los Angeles competitive after Aaron Donald’s retirement. But the analysis also questioned the Rams’ decision to use a high draft pick on quarterback Ty Simpson instead of adding immediate help while trying to contend with an aging quarterback.
The 49ers landed at No. 8, but the write-up was much more skeptical. Daugherty praised Shanahan’s play-calling but questioned San Francisco’s recent draft record, including the long-term fallout from the Trey Lance trade and the team’s difficulty finding consistent offensive contributors through the draft.
The Cardinals were buried at No. 28, with Daugherty writing that Monti Ossenfort is “out of excuses” after multiple draft classes and free-agency cycles. The ranking also criticized Arizona’s roster construction and lack of a clear quarterback solution.
For Seahawks fans, the takeaway is simple: Seattle was ranked as having the best front-office situation in the NFC West, and it was not particularly close after the Rams.
Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald Hire Helped Change John Schneider’s Trajectory
The most important part of the ranking may be what it says about the Seahawks’ transition away from the Carroll era.
Schneider had been tied to Carroll for the majority of his Seattle tenure, and Daugherty noted that Macdonald was the first head coach Schneider had hired as Seahawks GM. That made the move a major test of Schneider’s ability to lead the organization without Carroll as the defining football voice.
According to the ranking, Schneider passed that test.
Daugherty credited Schneider for hiring Macdonald, getting “out of the draft wilderness” and building the roster that delivered Seattle’s second Super Bowl title. The write-up also praised Schneider and Macdonald for moving aggressively after one season with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and quarterback Geno Smith, then betting on Sam Darnold despite his late-season issues with the Minnesota Vikings.
That praise matters because it reframes Schneider’s Seahawks legacy. He is no longer being evaluated only as the executive who helped build the Legion of Boom-era roster. He is being credited as the architect of two successful Seattle builds under two different coaching structures.
John Schneider Called a Potential Hall of Fame-Level Executive
The strongest line in the ranking came near the end of the Seahawks section.
Daugherty wrote that Schneider’s ability to reach the mountaintop in “two different eras with two different running mates” is highly unusual and “somewhat improbably puts Schneider on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory.”
That is a significant statement for a general manager who has sometimes been difficult to separate from Carroll in public perception.
Seattle’s 2026 outlook now carries a different kind of pressure. Schneider is no longer viewed as a front-office figure trying to prove he can win without Carroll. At least in this ranking, he is viewed as one of the NFL’s defining team-builders.
And in the NFC West, he is ranked ahead of everyone.
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