Brock and Salk: Quenton Nelson trade a ‘steal’ for Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks followed up a big win in primetime with the biggest trade of the NFL season thus far.

The Seahawks on Tuesday acquired six-time All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2027 draft and a fifth-rounder in ’28. The deal, which is pending a physical, was confirmed by the Seahawks late Tuesday morning following reports of the deal by multiple NFL insiders.

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Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk shared their reaction to the massive deal just after the reports of the deal surfaced.

“A steal at twice the price,” co-host Mike Salk said.

Why this deal?

Former NFL quarterback and longtime FOX football broadcaster Brock Huard said the draft capital the Seahawks are giving up in the trade is ideal for a player like Nelson who is on an expiring contract and will be a free agent after this season.

Part of the reason Seattle could comfortably trade away those picks is because it is expected to get a total of five compensatory picks in 2027 for the free-agent departures of Kenneth Walker III, Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant, plus Nolan Teasley’s move from their front office to becoming the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings.

And at the end of the day, it was about improving the most important thing for the Seahawks.

“What’s the most important thing to this roster? The line of scrimmage,” Huard said. “… You want to beat San Francisco? You want to win the NFC? You want to get back to a Super Bowl? How did you do it a year ago? You did it at the line of scrimmage over the second half of the season and into that playoff run where you helped Ken Walker become a Super Bowl MVP.”

A reminder of a past trade

Huard said this trade reminds him of the deal Seattle made to acquire defensive lineman Leonard Williams from the New York Giants in 2023. Williams, who the Seahawks picked up for a second-round pick, was 29 at the time and on the final year of a deal with a New York Giants franchise that had made the playoffs just once over the past six seasons. Nelson is 30 and coming from a Colts team that just fired its general manager and is likely heading towards a sixth straight season without a playoff berth.

“This is a move for this year and feels, honestly, in a very reactionary way to breaking news, like a Leonard Williams kind of move from a few years back,” Huard said. “You now get a chance – both you and the player – to grow here and develop here and see what this program is all about.”

“I was adamant at the time that Leonard Williams was the guy I wanted,” Salk added. “I had no idea he was as good as he is, and I still wanted him, but I was overjoyed when they traded for him and it’s really worked out well. I think I feel the same way today.”

Faith in the RBs

There had been speculation about the Seahawks potentially trading for a running back – like Nelson’s teammate, Jonathan Taylor – since their run game has lacked explosiveness due to an injury to first-round pick Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet still not being back from his ACL injury suffered in January. But Salk believes this trade means Seattle is confident that Price and Charbonnet can bring what it needs once they return.

“That’s gotta mean that they’ve got a lot of faith in Charbonnet, it’s gotta mean they have a lot of faith in Jadarian Price – that both guys, they believe, are going to be healthy and are going to contribute,” Salk said, “because I don’t think you now make a trade for a running back as well.”

See Brock and Salk’s full reaction to the Seattle Seahawks’ reported trade for Quenton Nelson in the video at the top of this post. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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