Four Seahawks veterans whose jobs were impacted by NFL draft | Analysis

The Seattle Seahawks added eight players during the NFL draft who will battle with veterans for spots on the roster and roles on the field in the fall.

Let’s look at four players on the roster whose fight to retain their roles or roster spots just got tougher.

Guard Anthony Bradford

While coach Mike Macdonald said they’ll figure out later if fifth-round pick guard Beau Stephens will start out on the right side or the left side, it makes the most sense that he’d get thrown into the competition with Bradford on the right.

Grey Zabel, the 18th overall pick a year ago, is manning the left side and figures to do so for years to come.

But Bradford is entering the final season of his four-year rookie contract and at the very least, the Seahawks figure to view Stephens as a potential long-term heir apparent on the right side, if not an option to win the job this year.

Bradford started all 17 regular-season and three playoff games last season and was praised consistently by Macdonald.

“AB played really good football for us,” Macdonald said at the NFL combine in February. “He really did. I mean, the stuff he did in pass protection solidified our pocket. (He) moved people off the line. Played tremendously hard and physical. So I’m excited about where his career is going, and let’s rock ‘n’ roll.”

Bradford was also considered by many observers to be the most inconstant member of the Seahawks’ offensive line.

He was rated 70th among 81 qualifying guards last season by Pro Football Focus with a pass-blocking grade that ranked 76th and a run-blocking grade that ranked 57th.

Bradford has no guaranteed money in his contract for 2026, and the Seahawks would create $3.674 million in cap space if he were released.

It’s obviously worth remembering Stephens has yet to play a snap, so there’s a long way to go before any decisions would be made.

Still, the move to trade a 2027 fourth-rounder to get him at 148 in the fifth round speaks to the optimism the team has about his future and shows the guard competition will be worth watching in camp.

Guard Christian Haynes

Speaking of guards, Haynes may be more affected than Bradford by the addition of Stephens.

Haynes arrived as a third-round pick in 2024 and was widely expected to holding down a starting guard spot by now. Instead, he has yet to start a game, not able to earn a starting spot on three separate occasions when given a chance, and playing just 32 snaps last season.

The Seahawks re-signed veteran Josh Jones to be a backup at tackle. But Jones can also play guard if needed. And the Seahawks have two draft picks from 2025 who can play guard — Mason Richman, a teammate of Stephens’ at Iowa, and Bryce Cabeldue.

If Stephens proves he can fill the role of backup, then the Seahawks could have decisions at hand on who makes the roster among Haynes, Cabeldue and Richman.

They would save $1.02 million against the cap releasing Haynes.

Haynes was the 81st overall pick, and that investment means the Seahawks will give him every opportunity to prove himself. But with Stephens almost certain to make the roster, this looms as a make-or-break year for Haynes.

Cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett

Riq Woolen’s departure to the Eagles via free agency leaves a wide-open battle for the third cornerback spot behind Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe.

Jobe seems secure to remain as a starter after signing a new three-year deal in March worth up to $24 million with $9.5 million guaranteed.

Of those on the roster heading into the draft, Pritchett was the apparent front-runner. The only other two corners on the roster heading into the draft were free agent signee Noah Igbinoghene and Shemar Jean-Charles, who spent last season on the practice squad.

The Seahawks added three corners in the draft — third-rounder Julian Neal, and Andre Fuller and Michael Dansby in the seventh round.

While nothing is a given, Neal’s status as a third-rounder seems to all-but assure him a roster spot, likely leaving the others to fight for the one or two that will be available on the initial 53.

Pritchett, a fifth-rounder two years ago, has just one career start (in 2024 in a win at Atlanta) but played every game last season as a reserve and special teamer.

“Nehemiah has grown a lot, and he’s gonna have a great opportunity to play great football for us and carve himself out of great role,” Macdonald said earlier this offseason.

The competition will be tougher, as Macdonald said after the draft Saturday.

“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,” Macdonald said. “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.”

Safety Ty Okada

Okada started 11 games at safety last year because of injuries to Julian Love and Coby Bryant, including the regular-season finale win at San Francisco that clinched the NFC West title. He had the 17th best grade of 98 qualified safeties from Pro Football Focus and made one of the Seahawks’ highlight-reel plays of the year with his leaping interception to key a win at Washington.

With Bryant leaving via free agency to the Bears, Okada loomed as the front-runner for the other starting safety spot.

He’ll have to fend off a challenge from Bud Clark, taken in the second round with the 64th overall pick out of TCU.

The Seahawks already bolstered the safety competition by signing free agent Rodney Thomas II (who has two years as a starter with the Colts under his belt); re-signing A.J. Finley, who was competing with Okada for the third safety spot before suffering a knee injury in August; and bringing back D’Anthony Bell, who was the de facto fourth safety all season before being waived late in the year and claimed by Carolina.

All will vie for the other safety spot opposite Love — who is under contract through the 2027 season — with Nick Emmanwori remaining in his hybrid third-safety/nickel/outside linebacker role.

Okada entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Montana State with the Seahawks in 2023 and after spending his first two seasons moving on and off the practice squad, made the 53-man roster for the first time last season.

He signed an exclusive rights free agent tender for the 2026 season last week, which will pay him $1.145 million. He has undoubtedly proven there’s a role for him somewhere in the NFL.

But the arrival of Clark shows there’s no guarantee of Okada’s role for the 2026 season.

“Ty Okada helped win us a lot of games last year,” Macdonald said after the draft. “Rodney Thomas is a guy that we’re really high on. A lot of guys. So it’s going to be a lot of great competition. But Bud has the skill sets that we’re looking for in our secondary, plays with the competitiveness, the ball skills, the man-to-man ability.”