In the span of three days, the Seattle Seahawks radically transformed their roster with just two trades.
The first of those trades saw the Seahawks send quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a third-round pick, while the second saw them send wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second-round pick. Yes, it was shocking to see them move on from two players who meant so much to the team, especially after cutting wide receiver Tyler Lockett days earlier, but it did give them one thing in spades: freedom.
For one, the Seahawks went from having virtually no cap space to an abundance of it, and regardless of one's opinion of how they've used it, that's valuable in and of itself. For two, they now have five of the top 100 of the upcoming NFL Draft, and that gives them no shortage of options.
"Every year is totally different," general manager John Schneider told reporters Monday. "Having those five picks in the first 92, it allows you to maneuver a little bit depending on how other people see it. That's one of the things that I'm trying to do down here."
The Seahawks have benefitted from having a bulk of picks in recent years, mostly due to the Russell Wilson trade with the Denver Broncos in 2022. They've used those picks to select several key players, including offensive lineman Charles Cross and defensive end Boye Mafe in 2022, as well as cornerback Devon Witherspoon and linebacker Derick Hall in 2023.
However, they don't necessarily have to use those picks. They could use them to trade up early on, or even trade for proven veterans if they so choose.
"Initially, you're like, 'Yeah, we're going to take five really good players,'" Schneider said. "But then you get in a situation where it's like, 'All right, that guy's a starter, we should probably move to go get him,' if you can. It depends on how other people see these guys. But yeah, it allows us the ability to just be more free throughout our draft process."
This draft will be a crucial one for the Seahawks as they look to rebuild their roster, and having five relatively early picks gives them a ton of freedom to do whatever they like.
