Seahawks could have 9 picks in 2016 NFL Draft

The Seahawks might have a number of holes to fill this offseason with seven starters and 10 other players set to become unrestricted free agents.

They’ll have the ammunition to do so with plenty of draft capital.

Related: John Schneider firm that Seahawks will bring back Jimmy Graham

Seattle could have nine selections in the NFL Draft if the team is awarded three compensatory picks. Those won’t be announced until the owners’ meetings in March, but the website OverTheCap.com – which is usually accurate in its forecasts – projects the Seahawks to receive three of them: a third-, fifth- and sixth-round pick.

Compensatory selections are given to teams based on net losses in free agency from the year before. Seattle’s free-agent losses included cornerback Byron Maxwell, guard James Carpenter, linebacker Malcolm Smith, defensive end O’Brien Schofield, safety Jeron Johnson and tight end Tony Moeaki. The only free agent they signed that will count against their compensatory-pick total is defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin.

Cornerback Cary Williams was released by Philadelphia before he signed with Seattle and therefore won’t factor into the equation. Neither will defensive tackle Kevin Williams as he signed with New Orleans after the May 12 deadline, when newly-signed unrestricted free agents no longer counted toward their new or old team’s compensatory total.

OverTheCap.com projects Seattle to receive a third-round pick as compensation for Maxwell, a fifth for Carpenter and a sixth for Smith. That would give Seattle a combined four picks in the first three rounds.

Seattle is expected to have six non-compensatory selections, including the 26th overall pick. The Seahawks have their own pick in every round but fifth and the sixth. Seattle sent its fifth-round pick to Kansas City for safety Kelcie McCray and its sixth-rounder to Detroit for cornerback Mohammed Seisay. Seattle acquired an additional seventh-round pick in the trade that sent running back Christine Michael to Dallas before the start of the season. That trade was conditional, but if the reported terms were accurate, the condition was met.

The Seahawks made another trade, sending wide receiver Kevin Norwood to Carolina, but that was for a conditional pick in 2017.

Here’s a round-by-round look at the selections Seattle is expected to have along with OverTheCap.com’s projections on the three compensatory picks:

• Round 1: Own pick (26th overall)
• Round 2: Own pick
• Round 3: Own pick, projected comp. pick (Byron Maxwell)
• Round 4: Own pick
• Round 5: Projected comp. pick (James Carpenter), own pick traded to KC (Kelcie McCray)
• Round 6: Projected comp. pick (Malcolm Smith), own pick traded to DET (Mohammed Seisay)
• Round 7: Own pick, additional pick acquired from DAL (Christine Michael)