The complete John Schneider Seahawks-Broncos trade anthology

The Seahawks have done a lot of business with Denver over John Schneider’s tenure as GM. Let’s look at the results.

The final day of the Seattle Seahawks’ 2024 NFL Draft started off with their only trade of the weekend. Their trade partner? Well, I think you know who they are at this point.

The Seahawks traded their higher fourth-round pick (and their seventh-rounder) to the Denver Broncos in exchange for Denver’s fourth-rounder, a fifth-rounder, and a sixth-rounder. It’s the third straight year that Seattle has traded with the Broncos, and the seventh time dating back to 2009 that the Seahawks have acquired picks or players from Denver.

While the Russell Wilson trade is the gold standard for Seahawks-Broncos trades, we might as well just review all of them and take a look at the final haul. There’s one Broncos deal in here that was actually started by outgoing GM Tim Ruskell but finished off by John Schneider and Pete Carroll. It nevertheless counts because it’s the origin story of the Legion of Boom.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane!

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2009/2010

Seahawks received: 2010 first-round pick
Broncos received: No. 37 overall pick

The Seahawks held the No. 37 overall pick, then traded out of the second round entirely when Ruskell sent that pick to the Broncos in exchange for Denver’s 2010 first-round pick. Seattle eventually traded back into the second in a separate deal with the Chicago Bears to get Max Unger. Denver selected cornerback Alphonso Smith, who only played his rookie season in Colorado before being traded to the Detroit Lions. The lowlight of Smith’s career was taunting Tom Brady right before giving up three touchdowns and getting benched.

Ruskell lost his job but thanks to the insane collapse from 6-0 to 8-8, the Broncos’ surefire high draft pick turned into No. 14 overall. John Schneider and Pete Carroll had two first-rounders to play with, and the Denver pick was used on none other than Earl Thomas.

2013

Seahawks received: DT Sealver Siliga
Broncos received: G John Moffitt

The less said about the Moffitt pick, the better. Moffitt played 24 total snaps for Denver. Siliga didn’t make Seattle’s active roster but returned for a handful of snaps in 2016. This is the only clearly dull “guys we were going to cut anyway” trade of the bunch.

2016

Seahawks received: No. 31 overall pick, 2016 third-round pick
Broncos received: No. 26 overall pick

As part of a four-year run of trading down their top draft pick, Schneider moved down five spots, swapping firsts with the Broncos and netting a third-round pick in return. The Broncos needed a quarterback after Peyton Manning retired, and they got their franchise QB in Paxton Lynch. He played five NFL games.

Seattle selected offensive tackle Germain Ifedi and tight end Nick Vannett. Neither player was remarkable but at least Ifedi started for several seasons.

2018

Seahawks received: No. 149 overall pick
Broncos received: No. 156 and No. 226 overall picks

This is the only Seahawks trade up in this collection! Seattle climbed seven spots for punter Michael Dickson, sacrificing a seventh-rounder in the process. Denver drafted tight end Troy Fumagalli in the fifth (14 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns in two seasons played), and running back David Williams in the seventh. Williams didn’t make the final roster and only had a few carries for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

2022

Seahawks received: QB Drew Lock, TE Noah Fant, DL Shelby Harris, 2022 and 2023 first- and second-round picks, 2022 fifth-round pick
Broncos received: QB Russell Wilson, 2022 fourth-round pick

I probably shouldn’t go in-depth on the Russell Wilson trade because we’ve done this story a million times already. Seattle traded its best ever franchise QB and one of its greatest players to Denver for a king’s ransom The Seahawks also sent Denver a fourth-round pick because John Schneider was feeling charitable.

We don’t need to rehash Wilson’s tenure in Denver outside of the fact that the Broncos gave him a 5-year, $245 million contract extension that, had Schneider given him that same deal, would’ve likely resulted in the pinkest of pink slips. The one draft pick the Broncos received was used on DL Eyioma Uwazurike, who’s currently suspended indefinitely by the NFL for gambling violations.

In addition to the players the Seahawks received, Seattle’s draft picks were used on left tackle Charles Cross, edge rushers Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, and Tyreke Smith (no longer on the team), and cornerback Devon Witherspoon. We can also throw in wide receiver Dareke Young into the Wilson trade, because Seattle traded down with the Broncos’ fifth-rounder and picked up a seventh-rounder, which was used to take Young. Witherspoon was a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist, while Mafe was one of the most improved Seahawks in his second season. Hopefully Hall can follow in Mafe’s footsteps.

Fant remains on the roster on a two-year deal, while Lock and Harris are elsewhere. The stats show that Drew Lock had a higher winning percentage as Seattle’s starter than Wilson had as Denver’s starter. Please do not come back at me with sample size and situations.

2023

Seahawks received: No. 108 overall pick, 2024 third-round pick
Broncos received: No. 83 overall pick

This has ties to the Sean Payton trade. Seattle moved out of the third-round of 2023 to get a third-rounder in 2024, while the Broncos rose 25 spots to select Iowa cornerback Riley Moss, who missed the first few weeks of the season with injury but still only played 23 defensive snaps over 14 games.

The Seahawks landed guard Anthony Bradford with their fourth-rounder, and added another guard in Christian Haynes with this year’s third-rounder. When the Saints traded Sean Payton to the Broncos, they also sent their third-rounder to the Broncos. The condition of the Seahawks’ trade with Denver was that they’d receive the lower of the Saints pick or Denver’s native pick. Therefore, Haynes was taken with the pick the Saints gave up in the Payton trade.

2024

Seahawks received: No. 121, No. 136, and No. 207 overall picks
Broncos received: No. 102 and No. 235 overall picks

I don’t really need to repeat what just happened three days ago. Seattle’s picks were used on Michigan tight end A.J. Barner, Auburn corner Nehemiah Pritchett, and Findlay tackle Michael Jerrell. Denver added speedy Oregon receiver Troy Franklin and Utah wideout Devaughn Vele. The benefit for the Seahawks was getting a fifth-round pick, which they didn’t have entering draft weekend.

The Final Total

Seahawks received:

S Earl Thomas (2010)
DT Sealver Siliga (2013)
OL Germain Ifedi (2016)
TE Nick Vannett (2016)
P Michael Dickson (2018)
QB Drew Lock (2022)
TE Noah Fant (2022)
DL Shelby Harris (2022)
OL Charles Cross (2022)
OLB Boye Mafe (2022)
OLB Tyreke Smith (2022)
WR Dareke Young (2022)
CB Devon Witherspoon (2023)
OLB Derick Hall (2023)
OL Anthony Bradford (2023)
OG Christian Haynes (2024)
TE AJ Barner (2024)
CB Nehemiah Pritchett (2024)
OL Michael Jerrell (2024)

Broncos received:

CB Alphonso Smith (2009)
G John Moffitt (2013)
QB Paxton Lynch (2016)
RB David Williams (2018)
TE Troy Fumagalli (2018)
QB Russell Wilson (2022)
DL Eyioma Uwazurike (2022)
CB Riley Moss (2023)
WR Troy Franklin (2024)
WR Devaughn Vele (2024)

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None of Smith, Moffitt, Lynch, Williams, Fumagalli, or Wilson lasted longer than two seasons in Denver. Uwazurike technically can make it three seasons with the Broncos but with the asterisk of an indefinite suspension. We’ll see what the future holds for Moss, Franklin, and Vele.

I think we know who’s historically been able to get the better end of these trades.