Seahawks open to trading first-round pick for a bigger NFL draft class

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks are open to moving back in the NFL draft and, with just four picks, hope to end up with a few more members of their draft class.

Three days before the first round of the draft, in which the Seahawks hold the final pick due to their status as the defending Super Bowl champions, president of football operations John Schneider was not hiding Seattle's intentions.

“It’s no secret with us," Schneider said Monday. "We have four picks, so we’ll be looking to move back.”

Including the No. 32 overall pick, Seattle also has picks No. 64 (second round), No. 96 (third round) and No. 188 (sixth round). The Seahawks do not have fourth- or fifth-round picks after trading them for Rashid Shaheed in November.

Should the Seahawks only make four picks, it would be the second-smallest draft class of Schneider’s tenure. Seattle only made three picks in the 2021 draft.

Schneider has not viewed the first day as essential since becoming Seattle’s general manager in 2010. The Seahawks did not have a first-round pick from 2013 to 2015 nor in 2017 or 2021.

The Seahawks’ roster is deep, and Seattle has locked up franchise cornerstone All-Pro wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The team may look to add a running back through the draft to replace Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, who left for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency.

Seattle brought aboard Emanuel Wilson, who signed in free agency after three seasons with the Green Bay Packers, and could turn to as the main option once he returns from his injury. Schneider expressed his confidence in the group of running backs already on the scene in Seattle.