GM: Come on down! Seahawks open seeking to deal 1st-round pick in NFL draft

The News Tribune’s Seahawks mock draft predicts they will do it again. They will trade back out of round one from 32 to 39th overall, swapping with Cleveland and gaining a fourth-round pick Seattle currently doesn’t have.

We aren’t the only ones expecting the Seahawks to trade back and not pick anyone Thursday evening.

“People are usually understanding that we tend to trend backwards, trade backwards,” Schneider said.

Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider (left) and coach Mike Macdonald speak at the team’s Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton Monday, April 20, 2026, three days before the NFL draft begins.

(Gregg Bell/The News Tribune)

The Seahawks could do the same with their 32nd-overall pick Thursday at the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh that they did as champions a dozen years ago: Find a team that wants to get back into the first round, with the potential to have a fifth-year option on that QB’s rookie contract that all first-round picks get, and trade back with that quarterback-needy team.

This year, there are teams right behind the Seahawks in the draft order at the top of the second round that need a quarterback.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider speaks to the crowd at the team’s Trophy Celebration event at Lumen Field on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Seattle.

Trade within NFC West?

The Arizona Cardinals released former franchise cornerstone Kyler Murray last month; the 28-year-old QB then signed with Minnesota. The Cardinals have the third pick in the draft, then the second choice in round two (34th overall). The Cleveland Browns own two first-round picks then the seventh pick of the second round, at 39th overall.

Most draft observers see Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson below the top level of quarterbacks in this year’s draft class. Thus, most believe he won’t be selected in the top half or perhaps at all in the first round Thursday. That would mean Simpson is likely to be available when the Seahawks are scheduled to pick at 32.

Schneider expects the draft calls for potential trades of picks to heat up as they almost always do each year: On the morning of then during the first round Thursday. It begins at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

The GM won’t rule out trading with the Cardinals — or the 49ers or Rams inside Seattle’s NFC West, for that matter.

“You know, we’ve talked within our division,” Schneider said. “That was kind of frowned up for a while: Don’t trade within your division. Everybody in our division we trade with, and we have good relationships with all three of those team.

“And you are maneuvering around the board and trying to help your team, no matter what.”

Asked directly if he would trade within the division even if he thought that rival was moving up to draft a quarterback, Schneider said: “Yeah.”

He smiled and flashed a look of “why not?”

“I can see what you’re doing there,” Schneider said, grinning.

Yes, the Seahawks are open for business to trade their first-round pick. No matter who their trading partners are.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider speaks to reporters at the NFL scouting combine Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, from a podium inside the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.