The 2026 NFL draft ended with the Seattle Seahawks doubling their picks. Going into the draft, the Seahawks had four draft picks. The draft ended with the Seahawks hauling in eight picks after some wheeling and dealing. As for who they drafted, the team went for need.
DAY ONE COPY AND PASTE
The Seahawks surprised everyone when they kept the last pick in the first round and used it on running back Jadarian Price.
SECOND DAY BEGINS AND A LITTLE DRAMA
Surprise turned into outright concern when it looked like the Seahawks would go a second straight day without a draft-day deal. Intrigue or not, Schneider and his team continue to draft for the need. With the 64th pick in the second round, the Seahawks selected safety Bud Clark. The Seahawks used their last pick of the day on cornerback Julian Neal from Arkansas.
“I feel absolutely amazing. I’ve been wanting to play for them [Seattle] for the longest. I had one of my cousins, he spoke it up to me, and I feel like it was a home for me when I came out there, so it’s been a dream, said Clark. When asked who his favorite Seahawks player was, Neal did not hesitate. “ Kam Chancellor, of course, because he’s always brought the pop, and I feel like he was the hammer, not the nail. That’s what I try to do all the time I play.”
Clark will be looking to make a first and lasting impression in the safeties room, which has depth with Rodney Thomas II, Ty Okada, and Julian Love. There is room to impress with the departure of Coby Bryant.
The Seahawks did make a move on day two of the draft. The Hawks traded away their No. 96, third-round pick, in exchange for No. 99 (third-round) and No. 216 (sixth-round) from the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the 99th pick, the Seahawks drafted cornerback Julian Neal.
CORNERBACK READY TO PLAY
The 6’1 “, 203-pound cornerback from Arkansas is a late bloomer with size, length, and strength to be a bona fide press corner. If that sounds familiar, it should; those are all the attributes departed Riq Woolen had.
We see him playing corner. That’s one of the exciting parts about where he is; there’s so much room for growth. He’s already playing a really good brand of football. He has great traits, has a great work ethic, and is super competitive. He’s smart. Those are all the ingredients that we believe can add up to playing even better football as his career grows,’ said Schneder.
Josh Jobe and Devon Witherspoon are the starting corners, with plenty of nickel and situational reps available for Neal.
“After that meeting at the Combine, the assistant head coach ( Leslie Fraser ) told me, ‘You’re most likely going to be picked by the Seahawks, “said Neal. ’ He told me that to my face. And I believed in him, and they believed in me. We’re going back-to-back this year.”
Despite just having two selections in the round, Schneider was pleased with the quality rather than the quantity.
“Great day. Added three Seahawks, through and through guys.Competitors, athletes, tough. Just great job by Josh (Graff) and Ryan (Florence), like, really getting to know the people, the competitors. It was a fun day. And we were able to make a trade. So we give Pittsburgh a lot of credit for doing a great job and working with us. We had several teams go away on us. It was a great day.
THIRD WAS FULL BLOWN WHEELING AND DEALING
The third day, John Schneider went back to his wheeling and dealing ways. Schneider is on record saying that the team wanted to make some moves, but no one wanted to play until the later rounds.
Unfortunately people don’t want to trade with us until the sixth or seventh round, fifth or sixth round. I don’t know why it happened like that this year. I felt like all the way through we were targeted, we were clear, we had a plan. You’re always going to have some upsets throughout the process. We had a couple of those, for sure.
But the coaches were awesome about moving forward after those upsets, and the scouts, everybody that was working the phones, what the board was looking like. It ended up just being a great process. We added some guys all the way through that were, like, ‘Okay, cool’, there’s a plan, there’s a vision. There’s a collective feel for moving forward with these guys, how they’re going to compete with our team.”
The Seahawks traded up with the Cleveland Browns, sending the Browns a 4th-round pick in the 2027 draft, then using that pick on Beau Stephens in the 5th round, 148th overall. The 6’5″, 315-lb Stephens is a mountain of a man from Iowa who was a first-team AP All-American. Stephens started all 13 games at left guard in his senior year.
“You’re going to get a mauler in the run game; technical in the pass game. Love to go into a hit, I’m not one to shy away from contact, for sure. More overall, just a professional-type person, a person who takes things seriously, and a guy ” That’s from Iowa, who was always considered an underdog, always has that chip on his shoulder,’ said Stephens. “The hay is never in the barn is what Coach (Kirk) Ferentz says. That’s just the kind of mentality. Iowa culture has, and what I’ve embodied.”
Stephens has experience at right guard, fueling speculation that he will be given a chance to compete for the starting right guard position with Anthony Bradford.
ANOTHER MOVE
The Seahawks kept the dice rolling in the sixth round when they traded down from 188 to 199 with the New York Jets and received an additional seventh-round pick. With the 199th pick, the team grabbed Emanuel Henderson. The 6’0 185 former Kansas Jayhawk was a third team All- Big Conference WR his senior year, played 11 starts, and led the team in receiving with 766 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. The Seahawks are looking for Henderson as a special team contributor.
DONE WITH THE SIXTH ROUND
A deal with the Green Bay Packers saw the Seahawks move out of their next sixth-round pick for two seventh-round picks. 236 and 255.
TWO CORNERBACKS AND A DEFENSIVE TACKLE
With their last three picks of the draft, the Seahawks drafted 6’1 “, 200-pound cornerback Andre Fuller from Toledo. Fuller is a rinse-and-repeat version of Julian Neal. Tall, lanky, and able to play press corner. The one noted weakness is his struggle to break from routes and close in when in coverage.
GOLDEN GOPHER WITH SIZE
Minnesota defensive tackle Deven Eastern was the team’s next-to-last pick at 242. The 6’5 315 Eastern takes up a lot of space and has an above-average wingspan. He was a three-year starter with the Golden Gophers and has a chance to join the Seahawks rotational defensive line. Could he be the heir apparent to Jarran Reed?
ANOTHER CORNERBACK
Simply put, Mike Macdonald said it best: you can never have enough corners. That explains why the Seahawks added Michael Dansby as their third corner of the 2026 draft—the 5’11, 185 lbs. Dansby played 12 games with the Wildcats and recorded 19 tackles, two interceptions, and 10 pass defenses. Dansby will be a practice squad player.
OVERALL TAKE
The Seahawks drafted for need and selected the players they believe will help the team take the next step on defense. The draft, according to Schnider and McDonald, was not about replacing players but making the team better as it continues to grow.
“You don’t have to be like that to be one of us and for us to want you here. It’s cool that it’s worked out that way. Like I said, I think it was day one, we have great competition on our team. We have a lot of depth. To be able to add some extra pieces later in the draft is going to be really fun to sort that out as the process unfolds,’ said Macdonald
- Seahawks 2026 Draft: Analysis of Key Picks and Strategies
- Seahawks Draft Emmanuel Henderson: Special Teams Prospects
- Seahawks Trade for Beau Stephens: An Offensive Line Boost
- Seahawks Trade Down: What Julian Neal Brings to the Defense
- Analyzing Bud Clark’s Skills: Seahawks’ 2026 Draft Pick
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