Seattle general manager John Schneider and New England director of player personnel Nick Caserio are the chief architects of this year’s Super Bowl teams.
A closer look at both of their rosters shows they have many paths to acquiring talent with varying degrees of success. One common thread is that both franchises found their quarterback outside of the first round of the NFL draft.
Of course, part of the legend of Tom Brady was that he was selected in the sixth round of the 2000 draft. Wilson was selected in the third round in 2012. The Falcons selected quarterback Matt Ryan with the third pick of the 2008 draft.
The Falcons are built more like the Patriots, but have not been as successful in the draft or in signing free agents, either veterans or undrafted.
The Seahawks’ 53-man roster was built mostly through free agency. They have 20 drafted players; eight acquired via a trade, waivers or from the practice squad; and 25 who signed as free agents.
The Patriots leaned more heavily on the draft to build their 53-man Super Bowl roster. They have 24 drafted players, 13 veteran free agents, six players acquired via trade or waivers and 10 first-year free agents.
The Falcons’ final 53-man roster in their regular-season finale against Carolina included 25 drafted players, 14 veteran free agents, four players acquired via trades or waivers and 10 rookie free agents.
In 2010, the Seahawks made 284 roster moves in Schneider’s and coach Pete Carroll’s first season. The biggest move was adding running back Marshawn Lynch via a trade with Buffalo.
The Falcons added running back Steven Jackson via free agency in 2013, and he’s been unproductive.
Unlike the Super Bowl teams, the Falcons don’t have any fifth- or sixth-round picks on par with Seattle’s Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman or Byron Maxwell. While the Falcons were able to find center James Stone and right tackle Ryan Schraeder as undrafted players, that doesn’t match Seattle wide receivers Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin.
Both Schneider and Caserio work closely with their respective head coaches, Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick.
“I think there is a level of trust that goes into it,” Schneider said. “We’re both pretty pliable guys, so that way we just hit it off.”
Schneider got his start with the Green Bay Packers as a scout in 1993. He cut his teeth under general manager Ron Wolf and studied how Wolf made tough decisions to build a championship team.
Schneider felt that Carroll, after his stint in college, was used to the natural roster-churning of players.
“My belief is that if you want to be a consistent, championship-caliber team, you have to make those tough decisions where guys are moving on every year and you just have to keep playing young people,” Schneider said. “Philosophically, we hit it off.”
Schneider has had success in the middle rounds of the draft.
“When you get to a certain part of the draft, there is a certain level of characteristics that you are looking for in players that you know can have a strong fit with your staff,” Schneider said.
Another trademark of the Seattle regime is it is not afraid to admit mistakes. When wide receiver Percy Harvin made himself a distraction, despite the fact that Seattle gave up a first-round pick to acquire him in March 2013, he was shipped in October to the Jets for a conditional pick.
“We have to do what’s best for the organization, first and foremost,” Schneider said. “We had the support of our owner, which was huge. We had discussed it for a long time with our owner. For one reason or another, it didn’t work out, so we had to be able to move forward.”
The Seahawks have hit with the high draft picks, too.
“I’ve been very fortunate that Pete and John believed in me as one of their first picks,” said offensive tackle Russell Okung, who was selected sixth in the 2010 draft. “And getting guys who understand what they want and what they desire. Just getting guys that fit the mold, guys who are tough and who are willing to fight that fight. When it all comes together, you can get some wins.”
The Patriots have had strong year on the personnel front. In addition to signing starting cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, they picked up wide receiver Brandon LaFell. The Falcons big free-agent signings last season — Tyson Jackson, Paul Soliai and Jon Asamoah — didn’t play similary huge dividends.
New England also re-signed receiver Julian Edelman and extended defensive tackle Vince Wilfork. They also picked up running back LaGarrette Blount after he was cut by Pittsburgh.
As the Seahawks did with Harvin, the Patriots made a difficult move when they traded six-time Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins to Tampa Bay.
The Patriots also restructured Brady’s contract, extended the contracts of special-teams captain Matthew Slater, safety Patrick Chung and running back Brandon Bolden and picked up defensive end Akeem Ayers, linebacker Jonathan Casillas and defensive tackle Alan Branch in midseason moves.
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