A week ago, John Schneider had eight draft picks and a salary cap problem. After a flurry of moves, when the new league year begins on Wednesday, the Seattle Seahawks general manager will have ten draft picks and decent cap space.
He also will be missing his starting quarterback of the last several years and his top receiver over the last five seasons. In the NFL, life moves fast when you enter a rebuild.
That’s not exactly the term Schneider might use to describe his recent trades of Geno Smith and DK Metcalf. Seattle still has a wealth of talent and now has the resources to fill in several glaring holes through both free agency and the draft. If the Hawks' general manager makes the right choices, Seattle could be back in the playoff hunt very quickly.
Where the Seattle Seahawks choose in the 2025 NFL draft after trading DK Metcalf and Geno Smith
If he has a repeat of his mostly failed 2024 personnel moves, let’s not think about that right now.
Today is a day to look ahead. The Seattle Seahawks have ten picks in the upcoming NFL draft. Five of them will come in the top 100, giving Schneider an excellent opportunity to acquire talent and to move up should he have a particular prospect targeted.
Details of trades and compensatory selections may still affect specific selections, but as of now, Seattle has the following picks in the upcoming draft:
- Round 1 - number 18 overall
- Round 2 - number 50 overall
- Round 2 - number 52 overall
- Round 3 - number 82 overall
- Round 3 - number 92 overall
- Round 4 - number 137 overall
- Round 5 - number 172 overall
- Round 5 - number 175 overall
- Round 6 - number 185 overall
- Round 7 - number 234 overall
Just four of these are the Seahawks' original picks. Three come via trade (Metcalf, Smith, and Darrell Taylor), and three are projected compensatory picks (Damien Lewis, Jordyn Brooks, and Bobby Wagner).
This will mark the fifth time in franchise history that Seattle owns at least five picks within the top 100 of the draft. Two of the previous years were 1976 and 1977, when the expansion Hawks were given bonus selections. They had five top-100 picks in 1996, when they added Pete Kendall and Phillip Daniels. Most recently, in 2016, Schneider used his draft capital to get Germain Ifedi and Jarran Reed, who just signed an extension.
Two years ago, Seattle had four picks in the top 52 and came away with Devon Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Derick Hall, and Zach Charbonnet.
And fans should not sleep on those later-round picks. There is a certain amount of luck involved in any draft, and loading up on chances – even the less glamorous day-three picks – can pay off. Ten years ago, the Atlanta Falcons found a Pro Bowl defensive end in Grady Jarrett at 137.
The next seven weeks will largely determine how successful Seattle will be in 2025 and beyond. Schneider has holes to fill and the resources to retool. He just has to make the right calls going forward.
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