Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft was filled with trades, trades and more trades for the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle, who wasn't able to trade away its first-round pick on Day 1, finally made its first trade of the draft on Day 2 and then had a run of trades to move up and back a handful of times on Saturday.
To start the run of trades, the Seahawks moved up in the fifth round to select Iowa guard Beau Stephens. In exchange they sent a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns.
The decision to move up and draft Stephens was an easy one for John Schneider and company, who were surprised he was still available at that point and took their chance to draft him.
"It was too big of a gap and too much talent there," Schneider said. "Beau came on a 30 visit. Really cool."
It's not yet known which side of the line the former Iowa guard will play.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said, "We'll figure all that out later."
Seattle then moved back 11 spots, sending its No. 188 sixth-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for No. 199 (sixth-round) and No. 242 (seventh-round).
With its 199th pick, the Seahawks selected Kansas receiver Emmanuel Henderson Jr., who, along with being a speedy playmaker, will potentially add to Seattle's special teams.
"This guy is an outstanding special teams player," Schneider said. "Mike reminded me today, clocked at 22.4 miles per hour with football pads. I'm not sure if you can run like that or not. It's pretty fast. Just a ton of speed. We were really excited to be able to get him. Jay (Harbaugh) spent so much time preparing for the draft. It was so great to be able to get one of the very top players. He's excited about it."
After selecting Henderson, the Seahawks traded back again, trading away its No. 216 sixth-round pick to the Green Bay Packers for No. 236 (seventh-round) and No. 255 (seventh-round).
On Day 3, the Seahawks were able to turn two picks into five.
"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," Seahawks general manager/president of operations John Schneider said. "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. 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."
Of those five draft picks on Day 2, the Seahawks added two players to their secondary: cornerbacks Andre Fuller of Toledo and Michael Dansby of Arizona.
"You can never have too many corners," Macdonald said. "There's definitely some special teams value… I don't think I've been a part of a team that has this many drafted corners on their team going into camp, which is really exciting. It's going to be a fun competition, man. It's going to be really cool to get these guys in here, get moving, see where it goes. I know Jay is really excited, too."
Fuller has played cornerback, nickel corner and safety and played multiple roles on special teams.
"I think you're looking at an overall really good football player," Macdonald said. "Again, going through the process, meeting with our coaches, it's tricky with the multiple position thing, but the ability to be able to do those things is exciting. Really smart. Just a great football player."
And Dansby said being a gunner is his "main thing."
"Gunner is where I'm going to make my money for sure this upcoming season," Dansby said. "Gunner, jammer, running down on kickoffs."
While the Seahawks addressed almost all their "needs" either during free agency or during the draft, one position they did not add was an edge rusher. Outside of losing Boye Mafe during free agency, the Seahawks feel positively about the players the currently have on their roster.
"Jared Ivey is a guy that had a great, great season last year," Macdonald said. "He wasn't active as many days as he wanted. Jamie Sheriff is another guy for two years that has been with us. Connor O'Toole was up, does a lot of great things. Jalan Gaines is back. We're really excited about those guys. They really worked really hard last year. I think all of them were ready to go, if need be, to go play in a game. That's the way the roster shook out on a week-to-week basis. We're fired up about those guys."
Schneider said they are still open to looking at undrafted free agents edge rushers.
Seattle also added nose tackle Deven Eastern out of Minnesota, who Schneider described as "an A gap player that can get up and down the line of scrimmage and have some upside as a pass-rusher."
Eastern was a three-year starter at Minnesota and adds interior depth to an already established defensive line.
"That guy is a monster," Schneider said. "He's huge. It's really cool. Again, came in on a 30 visit. Coaches were excited, scouts were excited."
The Seahawks walk away from the draft feeling positive about the players they were able to add and what that means for the competition moving forward.
"We have great competition on our team," Macdonald said. "We have a lot of depth. To be able to add some extra pieces later in the draft, it's going to be really fun to sort that out as the process kind of unfolds."
- RB Jadarian Price, Notre Dame (Round 1, No. 32 Overall)
- S Bud Clark, TCU (Round 2, No. 64 Overall)
- CB Julian Neal, Arkansas (Round 3, No. 99 Overall)
- G Beau Stephens, Iowa (Round 5, No. 148 Overall (from Cleveland)
- WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr., Kansas Round 6, No. 199 Overall (from New York Jets)
- CB Andre Fuller, Toledo (Round 7, No. 236 Overall (from Green Bay)
- NT Deven Eastern, Minnesota (Round 7, No. 242 Overall (from New York Jets)
- CB Michael Dansby, Arizona (Round 7, No. 255 Overall (from Green Bay)
