Seahawks owner Paul Allen will not be in Seattle’s draft room tonight…At least not physically. Paul Allen’s other pro-team, the Trail Blazers, are in San Antonio for game two of the playoffs. There is a camera set up in Seattle’s draft room for Allen so that he can take part in round one, virtually, from San Antonio.
GM John Schneider tells me today it’s “fairly Realistic” that he will trade out of his first round pick. He says he is talking to a few teams and that his 32nd spot is ideal because of the 5th year option teams have to extend a first round pick’s contract.
Schneider says he will be hoping a few teams don’t get their quarterbacks in the first round. Houston has the first pick of the 2nd round, 33 overall, and the Texans need a passer. Depending on how many quarterbacks go in round one, Schneider thinks there could be teams willing to trade into Seattle’s spot to get a QB before Houston. Oakland at 36, Minnesota at 40 and Jacksonville at 39 would make sense as likely trading partners. Schneider told me how important relationships are when it comes to making deals in the draft. He has close relationships with all of those teams. Schneider and Reggie McKenzie worked together in Green Bay, the ties in Minnesota are multiple and Jacksonville head coach Gus Bradley used to be Seattle’s defensive coordinator. Seattle has already done trades with both Minnesota and Oakland, trading for Percy Harvin last year and more recently with Oakland for QB Terrell Pryor.
With only 6 picks in the entire draft, Seattle would like to figure out a way to get more. Coming off a super bowl championship, Schneider says his number one goal is to add depth at all positions and draft the best competitors.