Any good NFL general manager is always looking several years ahead.
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For Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider, that includes evaluating the overall talent level of future draft classes.
“You have to evaluate every class,” Schneider told reporters at the NFL combine on Tuesday. “And so we evaluated this class as, OK, well, 2025 is going to be stronger than 2026. … It’s not the individual players, it’s kind of the collective, like the whole group. So that’s why you saw us make some of the decisions we made.”
The Seahawks appear to have taken full advantage of that strong 2025 draft class, which netted them a slew of young talent in left guard Grey Zabel, nickelback Nick Emmanwori, wide receiver Tory Horton, tight end Elijah Arroyo, defensive lineman Rylie Mills and fullback Robbie Ouzts.
But for the upcoming 2026 draft, the Seahawks currently hold just four picks: a first-rounder (No. 32 overall), a second-rounder (No. 64), a third-rounder (No. 96) and a sixth-rounder (No. 212).
That’s because, at the NFL trade deadline in early November, Seattle dealt its fourth-round pick and fifth-round pick to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for speedy wide receiver/returner Rashid Shaheed. The move certainly paid off, as Shaheed’s three return touchdowns on special teams and his field-stretching threat as a receiver both played a major role in the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run.
Judging from Schneider’s comments on Tuesday, the Seahawks’ overall view of the 2026 draft class likely played into the calculus and made them more comfortable giving up a pair of later-round picks for Shaheed.
Brock’s take
During Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard agreed that the 2026 draft’s overall depth isn’t as strong as 2025. However, he thinks the top 100 of the 2026 class is still pretty strong. And the Seahawks still have all three of their top-100 picks intact.
“I think the top 100 does look pretty good to me, as I start to do some of my work and talk to some of my people and look back at some of my boards of these different players,” Huard said. “… And in the top 100, they have three picks.
“But is this the draft that they trade down and get a bunch (of picks) for the fifth and sixth and seventh (rounds)? I don’t think so, because as John said there, the cliff is pretty big once you get past that (top 100). … After about 100 players, the caliber of future starter starts to change quite a bit.”
Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation at this link or in the audio player above. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays form 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. Also, the John Schneider Show airs on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob at 4 p.m. Thursday.
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