Seahawks trade down scenarios: How many picks could they get?
Seattle's D draft in 2021 with only Tre picks means Schneider will leave no Stone unturned in 2026
The Seahawks only have four draft picks this year, so will John Schneider trade down from pick 32 to modify Seattle’s upcoming class size? Probably.
But rather than simply fearing a four-player draft class (Schneider has always consider undrafted players to have the same cache as 6th/7th rounders anyway), the reason for trading down could be as simple as staving off boredom during a 117-pick gap on day three while also taking advantage of teams that fear a talent drop-off on day two.
The Seahawks already have a relatively complete, Super Bowl caliber roster for next season and are set to add four more draft picks next year through the compensatory process, lessening the need for Seattle to trade down out of a necessity for an immediate talent infusion.
If anything, the Seahawks could even trade up and decrease the size of the 2026 class and Schneider could probably get away with it because he’s never had this much equity with fans as the reigning Executive of the Year and Super Bowl champion.
I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Why it won’t be 2021 again
When the Seahawks entered the 2021 draft with three picks because of trades for Jamal Adams, Gabe Jackson, and Carlos Dunlap, most of us speculated that John Schneider would make deals to avoid having the smallest class in franchise history, including team blogger John Boyle:
Yes, general manager John Schneider very likely will try to make some moves to add to that total before the weekend is over, but as things stand now, there's a real chance the Seahawks will have their smallest draft class in franchise history, with the previous low being five players selected, which happened in both 1994 and 1997.
Although Schneider did make a couple of trades in the 2021 draft, Seattle still ended with only three picks: Dee Eskridge, Tre Brown, and Stone Forsythe. In fact, so concerned with quality over quantity was Schneider that the Seahawks traded up for Forsythe after he had already traded down before selecting Brown.
Five years later, Seattle’s 2021 class feels like a failure on both ends for reasons that require no further explanations to Seahawks fans.
But in Schneider’s defense, the 2020 pandemic sapped the 2021 class of talent because so many players stayed in school and evaluations were difficult because of the shortened or even canceled schedules of the previous year. Doubling the size of the class just to pick a few more prospects in rounds 4, 6, and 7 might have felt like unnecessary legwork just for the sake of it.
It’d be like when you were a kid and your mom told you to clean your room but after so many “are you sure you’re done yet?”s you’ve actually just shoved everything into the back of your closet until it looks like this:
“Can I go over to Pete Carroll’s house to play now?”
The Seahawks didn’t see the 2021 undrafted prospects as being much different than those who were picked between 150-250 and they ended up signing Jake Curhan, Jon Rhattigan, Cade Johnson, and Greg Eiland. Johnson and Eiland at least spent a few years on Seattle’s practice squad, which is more that can be said for many of the players they didn’t pick in 2021.
Still, what fans will remember is that the Seahawks didn’t pick Creed Humphrey. The 2021 class had a few day three gems, including Amon-Ra St. Brown, Trey Smith, Talanoa Hufanga, Dan Moore, and Will Fries.
Would Schneider have been the lucky GM to have drafted any of those players if he had more picks? We’ll never know.
But Seattle’s huge pick gap on day three of the 2026 draft tells me that the Seahawks might want to find out how much value they could extra from trading down at 32.
Seahawks 2026 draft picks:
1.32
2.64
3.96
6.213
(1.32 is first round, 32nd overall pick; 2.64 is second round, 64th overall pick, 6.213 is sixth round, 213th overall pick, and so on…)
That’s 117 picks between Seattle’s third and Seattle’s sixth rounder.
The fourth round of the draft, which is the start of day three, is pick 101. So that’s 112 picks that Seahawks fans have to wait for something to happen if no trades are made.
Teams are allotted 5 minutes per pick between rounds 4-6. So if every team took 5 minutes, that would be over 9 hours. I’m pretty sure day three never takes that long, but it is long, starting at 9 AM PT and ending in the late afternoon.
The biggest gap that Schneider had between picks in 2021?
The Seahawks had 81 picks between Eskridge and Brown, then 71 picks between Brown and Forsythe.
This is substantially longer than either of those gaps.
The least we could expect Schneider to do is mine for opportunities to add fourth and fifth round picks by shifting down from 1.32, and possibly 2.64.
Recent trades from picks 1.24-2.36
2025
Texans trade 1.25 to Giants for 2.34, 3.99, future 3
Rams trade 1.26, 3.101 to Falcons for 2.46, 7.242, future 1
Chiefs trade 1.31 to Eagles for 1.32, 5.164
Titans trade 2.35 to Seahawks for 2.52, 3.82
Last year, we saw four teams trade down from the end of the first/top of the second to add picks. The Texans came out with two extra third round picks (including one this year) by moving down nine spots with the Giants.
The Rams trade is a little more complicated than the sale that they “trade down with the Falcons and got a first rounder” because they also gave up a third rounder and moved down by almost a full round. It’s more like the Falcons traded their 2026 first rounder for a 2025 first rounder and moved down from the second round to third round in order to do it.
Kansas City slotted down one spot to add a fifth.
Tennessee moved down 17 spots in the second rounder and Seattle gave up a third rounder to go up for Nick Emmanwori.
Most viable Seahawks comparison: KC/PHI
If the Seahawks want to make a small move for a single pick, the Chiefs-Eagles trade is the best example. Schneider might extract a fourth if he wants to inch down.
2024
Cowboys trade 1.24, 7.228 to Lions for 1.29, 3.73
Bills trade 1.28, 4.133, 7.248 to Chiefs for 1.32, 3.95, 7.221
Bills trade 1.32, 6.200 to Panthers for 2.33, 5.141
Patriots trade 2.34, 5.137 to Chargers for 2.37, 4.110
Cardinals trade 2.35, 6.186 to Falcons for 2.43, 3.79
The 2024 draft trades better exemplify what Seattle is probably looking at if they trade down compared to 2025.
Four teams inched down (plus Buffalo a second time) and basically the cost to do it varied by situation but never went much higher than improving the value of a mid-round pick.
Most viable Seahawks comparison: BUF/CAR
We have a clear trade down from spot 32 to 33 and Seattle might want to do something like this, swapping pick 6.213 for something like pick 5.140-150 if they can find a buyer without moving down far.
2023
Jaguars trade 1.24 to Giants for 1.25, 5.160, 7.240
Jaguars trade 1.25 to Bills for 1.27, 4.130
Cardinals trade 2.33, 3.81 to Titans for 2.41, 3.72, future 3
Colts trade 2.35 to Raiders for 2.38, 5.141
The Cardinals wanted future draft capital, but Schneider might not care so much about that when he trades down this year.
Most viable Seahawks comparison: JAX/NYG and JAX/BUF
The Jaguars had pick 24 and then moments later they had pick 27 while having adding draft picks in the 4th, 5th, and 7th rounds over two trades. That’s what Schneider probably wants to do this year. That strategy kind of hurt Seattle back in 2017 when they did it and ended up with Malik McDowell, but the Seahawks can’t just stay put out of FOMO.
2022
Titans trade 1.26, 3.101 to Jets for 2.35, 3.69, 5.163
Bucs trade 1.27 to Jaguars for 2.33, 5.106, 6.180
Vikings trade 2.34 to Packers for 2.53, 2.59
Giants trade 2.36 to Jets for 2.38, 5.146
I’m amazed that the Packers wanted Christian Watson so bad that they traded two second rounders for one second rounder. How much do the Seahawks like the prospects in the 32 range vs prospects in the 52 range? That will go a long way towards determining what sort of trade Schneider wants to make in the first round. “More picks” is great and all, but it’s more important to come out of the draft having nailed your first pick.
That’s maybe the lesson that Pete Carroll never got quite right.
Most viable Seahawks comparison: TB/JAX
Would Seattle rather slide down a small amount and add two day three picks than slide down a long ways and an extra day two pick? I guess we’ll find out but I could see the Seahawks being a little bit cautious with how far they fall.