Seahawks keen to trade down, even within division

RENTON, Wash. -- The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are hoping to trade down in this year's NFL draft -- even if it means potentially arming a division rival with a quarterback.

"It's no secret with us," general manager John Schneider said Monday during his annual pre-draft news conference alongside coach Mike Macdonald. "We have four picks, so we'll be looking to move back."

That much was widely assumed. The Seahawks' four selections -- which include No. 32 overall -- are the fewest in the NFL. They also have a long history of trading back in the first round or out of it entirely under Schneider, and they'd logically have as much incentive as ever to so in a draft like this one that is not considered top-heavy in talent.

More revelatory was Schneider volunteering that the team is not opposed to making deals within its own division. He then answered in the affirmative when asked whether he'd do so even if he knew one of Seattle's NFC West counterparts was moving up to select a quarterback.

That is noteworthy given how commonly the Arizona Cardinals have been linked to Alabama's Ty Simpson, widely considered the second-best quarterback in this class behind Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. Arizona's picks include Nos. 3 and 34 overall. Another team that could be in the market for a quarterback, the New York Jets, own the 33rd pick.

"We've talked within our division," Schneider said. "That was kind of frowned upon for a while, like you don't trade within your division. Everybody in our division, we would trade with. We have good relationships with all three of those teams. You're maneuvering around the board to try to help your team no matter what. So when you look at it through that lens, you're basically not concerned about [helping another team]."

Speaking generally about the appeal of the 32nd pick in any draft, Schneider noted that -- as with the contracts for every other first-round selection -- it comes with a team option for a fifth year.

The last time the Seahawks owned the 32nd pick as reigning Super Bowl champions, they traded it on draft night in 2014 to the Minnesota Vikings, who moved up eight spots to select quarterback .