First-round pick Jadarian Price was joined Thursday on stage by Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald and general manager and president of football operations John Schneider for an introductory press conference.

Not long before that, he and other rookies began arriving at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, and on Friday, they'll take the field for rookie minicamp. Seattle's eight draft picks will be joined by undrafted free agent signings, as well as tryout players to form a group that will total 68 players, Schneider said.

"This is such a great time of year with new faces, draft picks, rookie camp this week," Macdonald said. "Just a lot of excitement with the new team, and this is really what kicks it all off."

When it comes to rookie minicamp, the goals vary from player to player. Some, like Price, are pretty much iron-clad locks to be on the team come fall, while undrafted rookies and tryout players are looking to make a strong first impression.

"It's multi-faceted," Macdonald said when asked about rookie minicamp. "With the guys we know are going to be here, it's an introduction to how we do things here in Seatle. And it's such a great opportunity to see some of the tryout guys as well. We have a pretty good history of finding some of these players—when you talk about being 70, 90, 105 players deep, that's going to be needed. Whether we want to stick with us right now, or be in the bullpen, so to speak, where they're one of the first guys we call. I think of guys like Jamie Sheriff that are still with us now. This is a great weekend, you're finally back on the grass. There's a lot to be fired up for."

This week is also the first chance for this year's rookie class to start to form a bond that will grow throughout the season.

"We had such a great rookie class last year, that's on record for how it was one of the catalysts for the team coming together," Macdonald said. "So to start that process over again, I'm fired up to meet the guys, see how they get along. It's going to take on a new lifeform of its own. One of the things we do here that's kind of cool is we don't force it. We give them some air to breathe, to figure out their own journey and how that meshes with the vets. That's why we go through the whole process. That's what makes this so exciting, because you don't know what's going to happen, you don't know how it's going to come together, but somehow, it'll come together one way or another."

Not long after signing his rookie contract, third-round pick Julian Neal said he was looking forward to "getting the feel for the next level, getting a feel for how coaches are going to coach me… Man, it's exciting. I'm just super excited to be here and be around great people."

Guard Beau Stephens, a fifth-round pick, sees rookie camp as a chance to show he has been putting in work to stay in shape during the offseason, while also being a chance to do actual football drills after an offseason of draft prep.

"I'm looking forward to actually playing football again, not training for a 40-yard dash or cone drills or whatever," Stephens said after signing. "You actually get to put the work in and show what you can do. It's finally something I can do, football wise, and I get to do it with Coach (John) Benton."

And as Schneider noted, rookie minicamp is also a pretty big undertaking for everyone involved to get such a big group of players ready to practice only a day after arriving.

"Special shout out to all the coaches this weekend, EK (director of equipment Erik Kennedy) and his staff," Schneider said. "We have 68 players here this weekend, and they're planning these practices, and EK and his staff are bringing everybody through and getting all the equipment ready, getting the fields ready, these guys are working their tails off. So as the cool kids say, give them some flowers. Give Erik his flowers."