Seahawks GM John Schneider says team is re-tooling and not rebuilding, and says team is exploring options with Earl Thomas

The Seattle GM also talked about the decision to release Richard Sherman and trade Michael Bennett.

Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett are gone.

Whether Cliff Avril or Kam Chancellor will ever be healthy enough to play football again remains uncertain at best, if not considered unlikely.

And the Seahawks don’t bother denying that they would consider trading Earl Thomas for the right price.

But if the potential loss of five key pieces of the best defense in team history — not to mention the departures of the likes of former Pro Bowlers Jimmy Graham and Sheldon Richardson in free agency — has the look and feel of a team rebuilding, Seattle general manager John Schneider said Monday that isn’t the plan.