The Seattle Seahawks are sitting on a Lombardi trophy and walking into draft week with the fewest picks in the entire NFL. Four selections, one first round pick, a title to defend, and a league full of teams preparing to take a shot at the kings of the NFC. Nobody saw this coming 12 months ago.
Nobody wants to admit it now. Seattle is the team to beat in football, and every move this week matters. Look at how they got here.
Sam Darnold went 14 and three in his first season as a Seahawk, [music] earned back-to-back Pro Bowl honors, and finished the job at Levi Stadium [music] with a ring over Drke May and the Patriots. Jackson Smith and Jigba [music] led the entire league in receiving yards. Mike McDonald built the number one defense in the sport in his second year, holding the whistle, and John Schneider went almost silent in free agency, barely making a ripple.
Some fans panicked. The smart ones [music] knew. Schneider was saving his ammo for the moment when it matters most.
This week, here's the twist nobody is talking about. Seattle lost four key pieces off the Super Bowl roster. The visit list is leaking a plan.
One ESPN writer thinks he has the whole thing figured out. A shoe size story from inside the building is going viral. Arizona is falling apart across the division.
[music] and one phone call on Thursday night turns four picks into six. Before any of these draft scenarios make sense, you need to understand the one move John Schneider has pulled [music] off better than any general manager in football. But before we get into that, hit that like [music] and subscribe button for more Seahawks and all the NFL content.
[music] Let's aim for 350 likes on this video. The reason Seattle is holding a trophy right now starts with one man in a quiet office in Reon. [music] John Schneider does not make noise.
He makes decisions. And every decision over the last four years looks smarter today than it did the day it happened. Fans argued.
Analysts doubted. The GM kept building. Trade Russell Wilson to Denver.
One single move returned draft capital turning into Charles Cross protecting the blind side and Devin [music] Witherspoon locking down the boundary. Hand Pete Carol a thank you card [music] and hire Mike McDonald when nobody else saw it coming. Trade for Leonard Williams mid-season and plug a defensive line hole.
Pull the trigger on Ernest Jones when the run defense was bleeding out [music] and watch the unit flip overnight. moved Gino Smith for a third round pick [music] and turned it into developmental quarterback Jaylen Milro. Cash in on DK Metave at peak value before regression arrived.
[music] Every transaction hit at the exact right window. Then the draft started landing. [music] The 2023 class alone delivered Derek Hall, Zack Charbanet, Devin Witherspoon, and Jackson Smith and Jigba.
The 2024 class added Byron Murphy II. [music] The 2025 class brought in Gray Zable to stabilize the interior line. Five straight drafts of hits compounding into a championship roster now sitting at the top of the sport.
But here's the part Schneider [music] never advertises. One of his biggest wins this season had nothing to do with the trade or a draft pick. It happened inside the equipment room and the story broke the internet.
Eric Kennedy sat down on the Schneider radio program with Seattle Sports and dropped a detail, sending Seahawks fans into shock. Our Jackson Smith Jigba spent [music] his entire college career at Ohio State wearing a size 12 cleat. Hamstring injuries kept piling up.
Missed games followed. Nobody [music] had an answer. Seattle drafted him anyway.
The equipment staff scanned his feet the moment he arrived. The real size was 10 and a half. Let it sit for a second.
A full shoe size off. The fix changed his career. Since the adjustment, Smith and Jigba has not missed meaningful time due to soft tissue issues.
He finished 2025 as the leading receiver in the entire NFL. He torched the Patriots in the Super Bowl. And one shoe size correction traces back to the result.
The equipment story runs deeper than one player. Custom scanned shoulder pads for every starter. Top rated helmets fit to each head.
A fiveperson full-time crew working every practice. Ownership writes [music] the check. Schneider signs off.
The staff delivers. Compare the approach to what Trent Williams went through in Washington years ago when he felt ignored on a serious medical concern and demanded a trade out. The Seahawks are the opposite building.
Players feel taken care of. Free agents notice. Current stars do not want to leave.
The culture is winning quietly off the field in ways fans rarely see, which makes the next reveal sting a little more. One ESPN writer published the exact blueprint for what Seattle has to do on draft night. And once [music] you read it, you will never see this draft the same way again.
Ben Solak of ESPN put the entire Seattle off season on paper in one article. And the framework is so clean it should be taped to the wall in rent. [music] Four major losses drive every draft decision.
Boy Matthew gone to [music] the Cincinnati Bengals. Kobe Bryant signed with the Chicago Bears on a three-year deal [music] worth $40 million. Rick Woolen walked in free agency after 5 years of boundary work.
And Super Bowl most valuable player Kenneth Walker III signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. [music] Four holes, four different priority levels. Here's where Solac sharpens the knife.
Safety looks handled internally. Taio profiles as a one forone replacement for Bryant without needing a premium pick. Running back in the first round makes no sense in this draft class because the depth at the position runs three rounds deep.
Edge rusher is the sneaky priority with Demarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nosu both over 30 years old and coming off injury seasons. Cornerback demands real attention, but only if the right player falls. The verdict is the part landing hardest unless elite value drops at pick 32, trade back, stack picks, hit guard, edge, and running back in the middle rounds.
For a team sitting at four total selections, standing pat is the worst option on the board. Solak essentially told the Seahawks front office, "The answer is not grabbing the shiny name at the top. The answer is math.
" And if the logic is right, the tradeback scenario is the most important thing nobody is preparing for. Because one phone call on Thursday night changes everything about this draft week. Seattle is walking into the draft with four picks.
32 64 96 212. The fewest selections of any team in the NFL. Let the math hit.
[music] Sergeant John Schneider has averaged over eight picks per draft for nearly five straight years. He is sitting at half his normal aotment. Every instinct in the building is screaming to move down.
Picture the phone ringing around pick 30. A team like Pittsburgh climbs [music] up for a quarterback or a blue chip defender sliding down the board. Seattle [music] drops 10 to 15 spots.
The return looks like a second round pick, a third round pick, and a late round flyer. Suddenly, the board explodes with options. Cashes Howell from Texas A&M.
The SEC defensive player of the year with 11 and a half sacks last season becomes a realistic target in the early second. Jadarian Price from Notre Dame stays available as a power lead back. Davidson Igbonosen from Ohio State slides into the third round conversation as the tall press corner Mike McDonald has been searching for.
This is how the Schneider system eats. Not one splashy pick, four or five swings at starters and role players. The draft classes building this championship roster came from volume meeting vision.
The 2023 [music] group alone produced four rotational starters because the front office owned extra capital. Skip the trade back and Seattle plays with one hand tied. [music] Make the call and the board opens up like a vault, which leads straight into the position Seattle has been studying harder than any other.
And the visit list tells the whole story. Here's where it gets loud. Count the cornerbacks who walked through the front door for a top 30 visit.
Colton Hood from Tennessee, Brandon Cis from South Carolina, Jalon Kilgore from South Carolina, Dalon Everett from Georgia, Traydan Stukes from Arizona, Andre Fuller from Toledo. Plus, heavy film homework on Chris Johnson from San Diego State and Avon Terrell from Clemson. Not a scouting exercise, a plan.
The profile ties every name together. height, length, willingness to stick a nose in the run game. Mike McDonald wants corners who tackle without hesitation.
Devin [music] Witherspoon handles the interior. Josh Job signed a three-year extension and takes a boundary spot. The missing piece is a taller outside corner with the hips to play press [music] and the aggression to finish plays.
Hood fits the description almost perfectly. He held Tedaro McMillan to five catches for 38 yards last season. Ciao.
McMillan went eighth overall in the 2025 draft and turned into one of the top rookies of the entire season. The wild card is Germud McCoy. Also from Tennessee, who tore his ACL before the 2025 college season and missed the entire year.
[music] He ran a 4. 40 40-0 second 40yard dash at [music] his March 31st pro day and eased every medical concern. McCoy carried a top 20 overall grade before the [music] injury.
If he slips to the back of the first round, Seattle might break the tradeback plan and pounce. But if Schneider stays disciplined and trades down, a different mock draft from the most trusted name in the business [music] already has the four pick blueprint ready to go. Dne Bugler of the Athletic dropped his final mock with Seattle standing pad at pick 32.
O and the four name hall gets Boulder in every round. Pick 32 goes to Colton Hood of Tennessee. Former Colorado transfer lock down press corner with ball skills tracing back to a high school career as an all-state center fielder.
A scheme perfect fit for the McDonald secondary and a direct answer to the Rick Woolen vacancy on the outside. Pick 64 delivers Kieran Crawford, the edge rusher out of Auburn. 6'4, long frame, built for the heavy-handed profile McDonald prefers across his front seven.
Crawford learns under Demarcus Lawrence and Uchenna and Wosu. While the position transitions over the next two seasons, pick 96 brings Mike Washington Jr. from Arkansas.
Over 1,000 rushing yards last season in the [music] toughest division in college football. Competition arrives for Zack Charbanet [music] returning from his ACL recovery, plus holdovers, George Helani, Kenny Mintosh, and Emanuel Wilson. Pick 212 lands, Robert Spears Jennings from Oklahoma.
Developmental safety with size and upside. No pressure on day one. Pure depth swing for a roster already loaded.
The mock aligns with Ben Solak on cornerback departs from him on edge timing and bets on Bugler, believing Seattle stays disciplined at 32 rather than chasing extra picks. But while the draft sets up for a bold week inside Seattle, something is unfolding two states south, handing the Seahawks a gift nobody is pricing in. And it happens [music] before a single pick gets turned in.
Ian Rapaort of NFL Network broke the story on Friday night. Jacobe Brisset is not attending [music] phase one of the Arizona Cardinals offseason program. The reason is simple.
He wants an extension paying him like a franchise starter. His current contract pays $9. 06 million this season with only 1.
5 million guaranteed. The Cardinals appear open to the conversation, but the situation underneath the surface runs much deeper. Stack the facts.
Arizona finished 3 and4 last season. General manager Monty Oenfort and head coach Mike Laflur both refused to name Brassette the starter heading into camp. The Cardinals sit at pick number three overall and look primed to select Tai Simpson out of Alabama.
Free agent signing Gardenner Menchu is already in the quarterback room with guaranteed money of his own. A team with a new coaching staff, [music] a quarterback competition, and a hold out starter has a long road ahead before the season begins. What this means for Seattle is simple.
The NFC West turns into a two-team race with San Francisco. The Seahawks have beaten the Cardinals in nearly every meeting over the last 5 years. A kindergartener alive today has never watched Arizona beat Seattle.
The division path is paved. The draft is the last piece of the puzzle. Thursday night kicks off the biggest week of the off seasonason.
Four picks on the clock, a title to defend, and Schneider staring down the decision defining the next championship window. Drp your pick 32 prediction in the comments and hit the subscribe button before the next mock drops on the channel.
