Seahawks could risk it all with one polarizing move before training camp

The Seattle Seahawks could take another big step forward to forging the league's best defense by trading for this 2025 first-round draft pick.

Regardless of how good the offense is under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, it's obvious that the Seahawks will only go as far as the defense will take them. There's a reason that Mike Macdonald was hired last year, after all. We saw great progress in the second half of the season, especially after Ernest Jones IV acclimated himself and took charge.

Surprisingly, Seattle only selected two players on the defensive side of the ball in this year's draft. Sure, fifth-round pick Rylie Mills has a good chance to contribute. But Nick Emmanwori, the 50th overall selection, promises to be an absolute best on this defense.

He'll have a huge impact from several spots all over the field. Even so, the Seahawks could add another dangerous weapon for DC Aden Durde.

The Seahawks can benefit from the Bengals bungle

In fact, it's entirely possible that Seattle could steal a proven defensive talent from Cincinnati. Edge rusher Trey Hendrickson remains unsigned. The Bungles had similar contract issues with star receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, so it's quite plausible that they'll work things out. But if not, the Seahawks have plenty of cap space (currently $36 million) to bring him into the fold.

While Hendrickson is a known force, with 17.5 sacks in each of the past two years, John Schneider might prefer a younger (and cheaper) trade target. Cincinnati hasn't been able to sign its first-round pick, defensive end Shemar Stewart. He was one of the top edge rushers in the 2025 draft.

He's a risk, though, as he only had 4.5 sacks in three seasons at Texas A&M. The expectation is that with NFL coaching, his sack totals will match the rest of his stellar performance (11 tackles for a loss, four pass breakups, 65 tackles).

The issue he has with his contract isn't the overall amount. That's set by the contract between the league and the Players Association. and is estimated by Spotrac to be worth just under $19 million. Cincinnati added language that would void guaranteed money, even in future years, if Stewart is suspended, even for an on-field incident. It makes sense that he and his agent are fighting this.

One obstacle to the Seahawks bringing him to the Emerald City is that, reportedly, first-round pick Grey Zabel has the same language in his contract. It doesn't seem at all likely that John Schneider would treat the 17th pick any differently than he did the 18th.

The only issue here is that the Bengals state that Seattle (and Chicago) have the same language in their contracts, but neither team has confirmed this. So maybe Cincinnati is just lying, or honestly mistaken as to the specifics.

As for the compensation to make it happen, the Seahawks could offer a similar deal to the possible trade for Hendrickson. Edge rusher Boye Mafe hasn't been extended yet, so he could certainly be part of a package, along with a 2026 pick, to secure Stewart. I'd much prefer Seattle keeps Mafe, but they have to give up some reasonable value.

The longer the impasse goes on in Cincinnati, the less it will take to bring Stewart here. On the flip side, the Seahawks are hardly the only team that could use another weapon for their pass rush. The competition for Stewart, as unproven as he is, could be fierce.