Seahawks look to move down in NFL draft, willing to deal in NFC West - ESPN

RENTON, Wash. — The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are hoping to trade down in this year's NFL draft — even if it means potentially sending a quarterback to a division rival.

«It's no secret with us,» general manager John Schneider said Monday during his annual predraft news conference alongside coach Mike Macdonald. «We have four picks, so we'll be looking to move back.»

That much was widely assumed. The Seahawks' four selections, which include the No. 32 pick, are the fewest in the NFL. They also have a long history of trading back in the first round or out of it under Schneider, and they'd logically have as much incentive as ever to do so in this year's draft, which is not considered top-heavy in talent.

More revelatory was Schneider volunteering that the team is not opposed to making deals within its own division. He then said he'd do so even if he knew one of Seattle's NFC West counterparts was moving up to select a quarterback.

That is noteworthy given how commonly the Arizona Cardinals have been linked to Alabama's Ty Simpson, widely considered the second-best quarterback in this class behind Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. Arizona's picks include Nos. 3 and 34. The New York Jets, another team that could be seeking a quarterback, own the 33rd pick.

According to ESPN Research, there have been 35 draft-day trades between division opponents in 24 drafts since the NFL realigned in 2002. Since Schneider became the Seahawks' general manager in 2010, he's only been a part of one such trade — with the San Francisco 49ers in 2017.

«We've talked within our division,» Schneider said. «That was kind of frowned upon for a while, like you don't trade within your division. Everybody in our division, we would trade