Seahawks history of trading up in first round of NFL Draft
A short, but unbelievable of Seahawks history including several Hall of Famers: Seaside Joe 1849
It’s interesting that Seahawks fans, and really fans of most teams these days I suspect, are so averse to the idea of their favorite franchise trading up in the first round of the NFL Draft; the last time that Seattle did trade up in the first round, which was 1997, they acquired arguably the best player in Seahawks history in addition to a second trade-up that same year that netted a really good corner.
And the most recent trade up previous to that was used to acquire Cortez Kennedy.
And the trade up previous to that was used to acquire Curt Warner.
And the fifth and final trade up in franchise history was used to acquire Jacob Green.
The history of the Seahawks trading up in the first round of the NFL Draft is: Walter Jones, Shawn Springs, Cortez Kennedy, Curt Warner, and Jacob Green. But the Seattle franchise hasn’t gone through a trade up in the first round of the draft in 27 years. Will that change in John Schneider’s first year as the final voice in the war room?
Seahawks trade up history
1980: Seahawks trade pick 16 (Jim Richter) and 71 to the Bills for pick 10 (Jacob Green).
1983: Seahawks trade pick 9 (Bruce Matthews), 42 (Keith Bostic), 69 (Chris Dressel) for pick 3 (Curt Warner).
1990: Seahawks trade pick 8 (Chris Singleton), 10 (Ray Agnew), 64, 1991 fourth to Patriots for picks 3 (Cortez Kennedy) and 29 (Terry Wooden)
1997: Seahawks trade pick 11 (Michael Booker, 41, 70, 100 to Falcons for 3 (CB Shawn Spring) and 63; Seahawks trade 12 (Warrick Dunn) and 63 to Bucs for pick 6 (Walter Jones)
History researched at Seahawks.com.
Jacob Green had 115.5 sacks in 12 years with the Seahawks. Curt Warner was one of the top running backs in the NFL from 1983 to 1988. (Matthews is one of the only real standouts for the other pick, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman in the Oilers/Titans franchise.) Shawn Springs intercepted seven passes in his second season, five in his third, and had a really good career in Seattle.
I doubt any of you didn’t already know any of this information—I won’t even bother with Walter Jones and Cortez Kennedy—but it was an interesting reminder for me when I decided to do this post. An idea that came after seeing this trade proposal on Twitter that had the Seahawks moving up from 16 to 11 by sending pick 81 and a 2025 second round pick to the Vikings.
I don’t hate the idea of the Seahawks trading up. I do HATE that trade idea and it makes zero sense to me.
Could the Seahawks trade up in 2024? Well, here’s a quick thought on that:
I don’t imagine Schneider being open to losing draft capital for anything less than a quarterback who he deems to be a franchise player. Not you deem it, not I deem it, not another team deems it, not Mel Kiper or Field Yates or PFF deems it…does John Schneider think that a QB who isn’t picked 1-2-3 is worth trading up for?
That’s rare, but it does happen.
My own unverified opinion is that the only QB prospect who in this class who seems worth it, other than Caleb Williams who won’t make it past the Bears at 1, is UNC’s Drake Maye. For that and other reasons, I still think Maye will be the second overall pick in spite of recent reports that he’s a tier below Jayden Daniels, if not also J.J. McCarthy.
Nothing I’ve seen in the last two months (and I’ve looked high and low) has convinced me of McCarthy being worth a top-20 pick, let alone the top-6 pick he’s seemingly locked into recently. That doesn’t mean I’m right or that I can’t change my mind, it just means that right now I still see Maye being ahead of Daniels and way ahead of McCarthy.
And if Michael Penix or Bo Nix happens to be the apple of Schneider’s eye, I am not convinced that the Seahawks need to trade up at all. Remember that Mac Jones was the odds-on favorite to be the number three pick in 2021 and he ended up going 15th.
If there is any truth to reports that Drake Maye isn’t going to be a top-3 pick, that’s the QB prospect who reminds me the most of the types of quarterbacks we’ve heard that Schneider has liked in the past. That’s the only scenario that makes sense for Seattle breaking their 27-year streak of NOT trading up in the first round.
Not for an edge rusher, not for a tackle, not for a receiver, tight end, defensive tackle, or cornerback. I’d think it would have to be for a QB and it would take a highly unlikely scenario—QB who this GM loves not being a top-6 pick—for it to happen.
I believe we’ll hit 28 years since the Seahawks last traded up in the draft even though the previous trades (all for a non-QB, to be fair) worked out so well.
I have to say I never knew this bit of history: In 1978, the Seahawks traded up from pick 82 to pick 57 by sending safety Bob Jury to the 49ers. Seattle wanted linebacker Michael Jackson out of Washington, a player who had eight serviceable seasons with the Seahawks. The 49ers used the third round pick they got back from Seattle to pick Joe Montana.
Normally, I know everything. This one either went by me or slipped my mind. I will be okay with it if this trivia slips my mind again.
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Seahawks first round trade history
These are all the times that the Seattle Seahawks were involved in ANY trade that involved a first round pick. I’m not going to name literally every player who was picked, but will try to name all the relevant ones.
1977: Trade pick 2 to Cowboys (Tony Dorsett) for picks 14 (Steve August), 30, 41, and 54
1983: Trade pick 25 for C Blair Bush
1988: Trade picks 17, 120, 128 for QB Kelly Stouffer
1988: Trade LB Fredd Young to Colts for picks 15 (Andy Heck) and 1990 first (Ray Agnew)
1996: Trade pick 14 (Eddie George) to Oilers for pick 17 (LB Reggie Brown) and DT Glenn Montgomery; trade pick 17 to Lions for pick 21 (Pete Kendell) and 91 (FB Reggie Brown)
1999: Trade pick 17 (Damien Woody) to Patriots for 20, 82, 191; trade pick 20 (Ebenezer Ekuban) to Cowboys for 22 (Lamar King) and 140
2000: Trade Joey Galloway to Cowboys for 19 (Shaun Alexander) and 2001 first (Andre Carter)
2001: Trade 10 (Jamal Reynolds) and 72 to Packers for QB Matt Hasselbeck and 17 (Steve Hutchinson)
2001: Trade 7 (Andre Carter, acquired from Cowboys) and 191 to 49ers for 9 (Koren Robinson), 82, and 222
2002: Trade 20 (Javon Walker) and 156 to Packers for 28 (Jerramy Stevens) and 60 (Anton Palepoi)
2003: Trade 23 (Fabian Washington) to Raiders for 26 (Chris Spender) and 105 (Ray Willis)
2006: Trade 24 to Patriots for WR Deion Branch
2007: Trade 25 (Mike Jenkins) to Cowboys for 28 (Lawrence Jackson), 163, and 235
2009: Trade 37 to Broncos for 2010 first (Earl Thomas)
2012: Trade 12 (Fletcher Cox) to Eagles for 15 (Bruce Irvin), 114 (Jaye Howard), 172 (Jeremy Lane)
2013: Trade pick 25 (Xavier Rhodes), 214, 2014 third to Vikings for WR Percy Harvin
2014: Trade 32 (Teddy Bridgewater) to Vikings for 40, 108
2015: Trade 31, Max Unger to Saints for TE Jimmy Graham, 112
2016: Trade 26 (Paxton Lynch) to Broncos for 31 (Germain Ifedi) and 94 (Nick Vannett)
2017: Trade 27 (Tak McKinley) to Falcons for 31, 95, 249 (Chris Carson); trade 31 (Reuben Foster) to 49ers for 34, 111
2018: Trade pick 18 (Jaire Alexander) and 248 to Packers for 27 (Rashaad Penny), 76, 186
2019: Trade Frank Clark, 84 to Chiefs for 29 (LJ Collier), 92, 2020 second round
2019: Trade 21 (Darnell Savage) to Packers for 30, 114, 118; trade 30 (DeAndre Baker) to Giants for 37, 132, 142
2020: Trade 2021 first (Christian Darrisaw), 2021 third, 2022 first (Garrett Wilson), Bradley McDougald to Jets for Jamal Adams, 2022 fourth (Coby Bryant)
2022: Trade Russell Wilson, 116 to Broncos for 9, 40, 145, 2023 first, 2023 second, TE Noah Fant, QB Drew Lock, DE Shelby Harris
Does anything stand out to you about the trade history? Share it in the Seaside Joe comments:
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To clarify, there's no intention to sway opinion for or against a trade up with this article. I am not for or against trading up for a player, the only thing I'm against is having a hard-and-fast annual rule like that with no exceptions. I don't think "never trade up" or "always trade down" or "always stick and pick" or "never stick and pick" should always be the case every year. Make the best decision based on what the draft board universe is giving you in a given moment. For example, you wouldn't "not trade up for patrick mahomes" if you could go back in time just because that would break your rule to never trade up.
This article might sound like I was "for" trading up, but that's not necessarily the case. Just not for or against anything other than doing what's best for the franchise. I wanted to see the history of trading up and I was just surprised that with the help of coincidence, those 5 trade ups worked out really good. But then I think trading a first for a player is almost the same as trading up and a lot of those trades worked out horribly.
We should try to trade more with the Broncos!