The Seattle Seahawks followed up their massive 20-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend with the season's first major trade, acquiring eight-time Pro Bowl and four-time All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts.
The move strengthens the Seahawks' offensive line, which already houses some great talent like Gray Zabel and Charles Cross. Nelson's addition meant that Christian Haynes was waived, but the trade-off is a significant upgrade for an offensive line that needed help protecting Sam Darnold.
The Seahawks, now 4-3 in the NFC West, still have Super Bowl repeat aspirations, so a big trade like this is one step closer to that goal. The Colts are going the opposite way and could mean Shane Steichen's job. As for another former Colts head coach, Jeff Saturday, he couldn't be more thrilled for Nelson's new opportunity under Mike Macdonald.
Ex-Indianapolis Colts' HC Jeff Saturday loves Quenton Nelson with the Seattle Seahawks
Saturday spent the final eight games of the 2022 season as the Colts' interim head coach, going 1-7. His short-lived, unsuccessful tenure pales in comparison to his playing career in Indianapolis from 1999-2011, when he won a Super Bowl and earned multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections.
During his eight games coaching, Saturday had firsthand perspective on players like Nelson. After the Colts traded with the Seahawks, he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Wednesday to discuss the trade and explain why Nelson is exactly the type of player for a Macdonald-coached team.
“The thing I loved most about him as a head coach is he would encourage or I’m assuming tell his coordinators, hey, even if we’re not efficient, we’re going to stay true to a balanced offense,” Saturday said of Macdonald. “And when you’re willing to do that, even when it’s not going great, you start to build this level of physicality. It helps your defense and then it helps explosive plays. And then when your run game gets going… all these things fall into place.
“So, the physicality by which (Nelson) plays fit so well in the personality and style of the Seahawks. I don’t think it could have been a better fit.”
Saturday would go on to discuss Nelson's age and how many years of great football he could have left, provided Seattle re-signs the veteran to a new contract after this season. Nelson is in the final year of his current deal, but the good news is that, if he wants to stay in Seattle past this season, the Seahawks have a history of re-signing players they acquired in a situation like his.
Saturday believes Nelson (31) still has many more years left, and as a former offensive lineman himself who played well until his final year in the NFL at the age of 37, he even earned a Pro Bowl nod with the Green Bay Packers in his last season.
Saturday has a Hall of Fame resume and still has a good chance to get there, but Nelson's resume in just eight years is already better than Saturday's. Nelson's Hall of Fame future is almost cemented. If he continues to be the great player in Seattle that he was in Indianapolis and wins a Super Bowl along the way, it could be the best thing for Nelson since getting drafted.
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