Should Seahawks trade up in 1st round of NFL Draft?

Mar 25, 2025, 10:15 AM | Updated: 10:17 am

Seattle Sports

It’s now officially less than a month until the NFL Draft, and there will be plenty of intrigue surrounding what the Seattle Seahawks do at pick No. 18.

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Whether it’s the offensive line, defense or even wide receiver, there seems to be a handful of players who the Seahawks could end up going with in the first round. But fans in Seattle are well aware that the picks the team enters the draft with aren’t necessarily where they’ll end up selecting. Draft day trades can always happen, and Seahawks general manger John Schneider has made plenty of those over the years.

Schneider is mostly known for trading back in the draft, which he has notably done several times in the first round. But could 2025 be the year where he moves up in the first round?

ESPN draft analyst Field Yates was asked if this year’s draft was one worth trading up in the first round during his conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday.

“I think it’s a good year to just pick at 18 for this reason: I just don’t know what the appetite will be to trade up,” Yates said. “I mean, maybe you see, like, 19 or 20 (trade up) to 18, where some team is just making sure they don’t get sniped by a separate team who they think is hot on the trail of the same player.”

Yates also feels that there isn’t the sort of top-tier talent that’s worth moving up for.

“This isn’t a class where it’s like you’ve got so many established, bona fide blue-chippers that you gotta get through first before you can take that second tier of guys,” Yates said. “I think that second tier or that third tier is just much wider than normal.”

Huard weighs in

Brock and Salk co-host Brock Huard shared his take on the Seahawks potentially trading up in the first round Tuesday during his Blue 88 segment.

“I don’t see that at all,” said Huard, a FOX analyst and former NFL quarterback.

Co-host Mike Salk asked what if that would mean trading up three to five spots to get someone like star Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, who has the potential to make an instant impact as a receiver and blocker.

“It’s a real dangerous game, and I got to know whether those three offensive lineman that I really love are sitting there still,” said Huard, who noted it would likely cost Seattle one of its second-round picks to move up a few spots in the first round. “If they’re still sitting there, then I cannot possibly do that. As intriguing and as tantalizing as that may be, I cannot do that and then all of a sudden hope that at (pick) 50 or 52 that one of those young studs is still there and available.”

Hear the full conversation with ESPN’s Field Yates here or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. on the Seattle Sports app.