The Seattle Seahawks made their feelings clear about Shedeur Sanders after passing on the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback to select Jalen Milroe in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft. Now, the Seahawks will forever be tied to Sanders after a draft day move with the Cleveland Browns.
Despite passing on taking Sanders on multiple occasions, including to select Dillon Gabriel on Day 2, the Browns struck a trade with the Seahawks in the fifth round that allowed the franchise to move up in order to finally select the signal-caller. Seattle announced the terms of the Day 3 trade with an X post on April 26, 2025.
The Seahawks traded the No. 144 overall pick in the fifth round to the Browns in exchange for the No. 166 selection (fifth round) and No. 192 (sixth round). Seattle will now forever be tied to Sanders’ NFL career in two key ways.
First, selecting Milroe over Sanders in the third round. Finally, the Browns selected Sanders with the No. 144 overall pick that was originally the Seahawks pick.
Seahawks GM on Shedeur Sanders’ Slide During the NFL Draft: ‘We Don’t Know What the Stories (Are) That Are Going On’
Seahawks general manager John Schneider is banking on their evaluation that Milroe will be a better NFL quarterback than Sanders. Time will tell if the front office will be proved correct or filled with regret for passing on Sanders.
After Sanders was not selected on the first two days, Schneider was asked for the team’s reaction. Schneider played it coy on their evaluation of Milroe over Sanders.
“I think you’re just kind of going through – we’re not listening (to the NFL draft television broadcast),” Schneider said of Sanders’ slide during an April 25, press conference. “You know, we’re watching. We have it on, but we’re not – we don’t know what the stories (are) that are going on.”
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald admitted he did not have a reaction to the Sanders news.
“I didn’t react,” Macdonald said of Sanders’ slide in the NFL draft.
Seahawks Envision Utilizing Jalen Milroe in Packages in 2025
The Seahawks were much more forthcoming in regards to their evaluation of Milroe. Schneider revealed why the team wanted to select Milroe over Sanders and the other quarterback options on the board.
“He’s an incredible athlete,” Schneider said of Milroe. “Very, very fast. I think literally it’s 21.2 (miles per hour) or something like that. You know, his GPS speed, but (also a) hard worker. And he’s … (an) academic Heisman Award winner. He’s had four different offensive coordinators, worked his tail off.
“His mom’s former (member of the) Navy. Dad’s a Marine. … He had a really great visit. And he was in a spot, and he just kept coming. And he was there by himself.”
Seattle made it clear that Sam Darnold is still the team’s starting quarterback. The Seahawks plan to utilize Milroe is specific packages while Darnold remains QB1 for 2025.
As for Sanders, it will be worth watching how Milroe’s career compares to the former Colorado quarterback. Seattle saw the opportunity to accumulate more late-round picks as too good to pass up.
