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The Seahawk Boys
2002
Fearless and Stupid
NFL Page
Time To Bring Randy Mueller Home?
A Seahawk Boy Editorial
With
the somewhat surprising news Thursday that the New Orleans Saints -- one
of the NFL's most long term sad-sack stories -- had fired GM Randy
Mueller, a series of wheels have been set in motion that will likely see
Mueller end up with the same job in Atlanta.
This is an outcome that the Seattle Seahawks should, if possible, do their level best to disrupt. Mueller, despite some recent trends in the media to bash him, has been one of the NFL's brightest stars in the personnel department over the last few years. He has a solid if not sterling record of mining quality players, especially in the upper reaches of the draft. He has also shown a deft touch for the art of the deal, something that has been sorely lacking at Seahawks headquarters since Mike Holmgren took over as President/GM and ousted Mueller from his responsibility over personnel.
Politically, bringing Mueller back to the team he grew up with -- he spent almost 20 years working his way up through the Seahawks organization to ultimately become vice president of football operations in 1995 -- might be a tough thing to sell, at least to current major-domo Mike Holmgren. But there is little question that Mueller can bring a finesse with trades and drafts that Holmgren lacks, and could be a valuable counter-point to Holmgren, who has surrounded himself with Ed ("You are Correct, Sir") McMahon types to this point.
The arguments against such a move are that it would undermine Holmgren at a time when the team seems poised to have solid year and make a real run for the playoffs. Holmgren seems to have mostly restocked the talent back to the level it was when he arrived. After several years of purging quality players, the Seahawks have a chance to be decent, even in the NFL's toughest division, the NFC West.
And Mueller's star seems to have fallen a bit after being named NFL executive of the year in 2000. Mostly, this is thanks to a fairly unremitting bashing he has taken in the football press, especially from ESPN's Len Pasquarelli. While I frequently agree with Pasquarelli in editorial terms, this time his reasoning seems off. Pasquarelli keeps implying that Mueller has made a number of bad moves, but is able to cite only one, the signing of WR Albert Connell. Connell was considered by some a character risk, but he was coming off his best season as a pro and was widely regarded as the best WR in last years free agency class. And blaming Mueller for the dissension that went on in the Saints locker room last year (Connell stealing from his teammates lockers, Willie Roaf dealing with persistent rumors that a teammate was the real father of his wife's child) is hardly fair. The head coach is responsible for maintaining order and discipline in the locker room, not the GM. One gets the sense Pasquarelli is being fed a lot of negatives on Mueller from the NFL's old boys network of GM's and personnel people, many of whom resent Mueller's success and his golden boy reputation. This makes some sense, as Mueller is not a typical vagabond personnel guy who has drifted from team to team as a scout, working his way up through the nepotistic network of NFL scouting "professionals." Rather, he is a home grown product who has beaten many of them at their own game, and they simply resent him for it
A close look at Mueller's record in the draft, trades and free agency shows he's unquestionably one of the best personnel men around. He first came to power with the Seahawks in the midst of the Ken Behring franchise move debacle in 1995. Working out of a hotel room in Los Angeles with head coach Dennis Erickson, Mueller managed to set about the task of rebuilding the Seahawks roster despite the instability of the situation. His first free agent signing was safety Darrel Williams, one of the best Seahawks to ever play the position and a player who went to the Pro Bowl for the team in 1996. Williams had 20 interceptions in his four year Seahawks stint, and has to be regarded as one the teams best free agent signings ever.
The team came back in the draft and added WR Joey Galloway, its best receiver since Steve Largent, and TE Christian Fauria in the first two rounds that year. Both players are still in the league and Fauria was five year starter for the Seahawks. Galloway remains one of the leagues best deep threats.
Mueller came back in 1996 with another great haul from the draft. He added OG Pete Kendall -- a five year starter before bolting the Mike Holmgren regime in free agency -- in the first round and CB Fred Thomas in the second. Thomas is now a starter for the Saints and was widely regarded as one of the best cover men in the league last year, although he just missed out on the Pro Bowl. Mueller added another near Pro Bowl performer in the fourth round that year in DE Phillip Daniels, who had nine sacks last season and a couple of game winning forced fumbles. Daniels is regarded as a cornerstone of the Bears highly regarded young defense.
1997 was an even bigger year for Mueller and the Seahawks as Mueller engineered the trade that sent washout former #1 pick QB Rick Mirer to Chicago. Mueller was able to hoodwink the Bears into parting with the 11th overall pick in the draft for the erratic Mirer, whom he and Erickson had inherited from the disastrous Tom Flores regime and who they knew would never be anything but a back-up. Getting a high first round selection for a 3rd string QB was impressive enough, but then Mueller was able to successfully parlay that trade into two more trades for the #3 and #6 overall picks. Mueller used those picks to obtain CB Shawn Springs and LT Walter Jones, both Pro Bowlers who are now in the prime of their careers. When Springs is healthy he is the best pure cover corner in the NFL, and Jones is one of the top five LT's in the game and the Seahawks current franchise player. Pro Bowl linebacker Chad Brown was added through free agency. The Seahawks also got TE Itula Milli in the draft that year, a sometimes starter who's still with the team.
Sadly, 1998 was the last season that Mueller was in control of the Seahawks personnel moves. He did not disappoint on draft day. Mueller and Erickson were prepared to draft Marshall's Randy Moss -- currently the NFL's best receiver -- with the 15th pick overall. But owner Paul Allen and Seahawks President Bob Whitsitt had serious concerns about Moss' character, and after loads of bad publicity with players in the few years preceding 1998 they forbade the selection. Undaunted, Mueller shifted gears in the first round and used the pick on linebacker Anthony Simmons. Simmons has proven to be one of the Seahawks best players, and is widely regarded as perhaps the most underrated defender in the league. Simmons is star just waiting to explode in the right system. Second round pick RT Todd Weiner became a starter in his fourth year with the club (he won the job in 1999 but was injured in the first game against Detroit). Weiner did a terrific job last season and got himself a 5 year, $17 million dollar contract from Atlanta for his efforts. He will be a quality starter for the Falcons for many years to come.
The best pick of the Seahawks 1998 draft may have been 3rd rounder RB Ahman Green. Green was a favorite of former coach Dennis Erickson but quickly fell out of favor with new head coach Mike Holmgren. Holmgren traded Green to the Packers for CB Fred Vinson after one season. Green became a starter for the Packers after a few games and in 2001 he finished 4th in the NFL in rushing with 1397 yards, a 4.6 YPG average, and nine touchdowns. He also added another 594 yards on 62 receptions and added two more touchdowns through the air. Green is one of the most explosive multi-purpose backs in the league.
After spending the 1999 season in a reduced capacity under Holmgren, Mueller became the Saints general manager in 2000. Building from the ashes of the ruinous Mike Ditka era and his ill-advised Ricky Williams trade, Mueller quickly rebuilt the Saints with an aggressive approach to free agency and a solid draft. Despite not having a first round pick, Mueller got perhaps the best DL in the 2000 draft in DE Darren Howard. He also added DT Norman Hand, WR Joe Horn, and QB Jeff Blake in free agency, and then acquired QB Aaron Brooks in a trade with the Packers for only a third round pick. The restructured Saints went 10-6 under new coach Jim Haslett (a Mueller hire) and won the first playoff game in their history over the world champion Rams.
In the 2001 draft, the Saints added RB Deuce McAlister, a move which enabled them to trade the eccentric Williams this offseason. Second round pick LB Sedrick Hodge is highly regarded by the Saints coaches and looks like a lock to be a starter this season.
This year, after dealing with the disruptions in the locker room that led to the Saints late season collapse, Mueller traded Williams for a first round pick (and a conditional third), and got a draft pick in exchange for Roaf. The draft netted them WR Donte Stallworth, DE Charles Grant and C LeCharles Bentley, all three of whom are probable starters.
The reality is that all of Mueller's top selections in each draft he has run are solid, if not star level players. Some are Pro Bowlers and all are still in the league. When you throw in the trades he has made, it's not outrageous to suggest that Mueller is the best GM in the NFL over the past six or seven seasons. A team that listed Aaron Brooks, Ahman Green, Deuce McAlister, Joey Galloway, Joe Horn, Donte Stallworth, Pete Kendal, Todd Weiner, Chad Brown, Anthony Simmons, Shawn Springs, Walter Jones, Phillip Daniels and Norman Hand among its starters would have to be considered a solid playoff team if not a Super Bowl contender. The contrast to current Seahawks GM Mike Holmgren's record, not to mention other well known and admired GM's (quick, who traded Marshall Faulk for a 2nd and a 5th in 1999? Bill Polian) is striking to say the least.
So the question should not be what getting Mueller to come back home would do to Holmgren's ego and attitude, but whether they can afford to pass up the best GM in the business given Holmgren's spotty record. SHB is convinced that Mueller is the right man for the Seahawks GM job, and if Holmgren is upset by the loss of power that's too bad. The hiring would if anything light a fire under the sometimes overly patient Holmgren, and perhaps convince him that he needs to spend more time focusing on winning games over developing "his" players. Mueller has an established record of building a talent pool, and Holmgren as yet does not. The Seahawks need to consider who is the best man to ensure the team's long term competitiveness. Not who has the most years left on their contract.