One of the biggest dominoes of the trade deadline has already fallen. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are acquiring All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts, according to ESPN. As for the compensation that Indy is getting in return for Nelson, The Ringer reports that the Seahawks are sending over a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick.
Nelson, 30, is in the final year of his contract, so this currently should be viewed as a half-season rental for Seattle. That said, they could always deploy the franchise tag or extend Nelson to keep him for the long haul, which is something the franchise has done before. For instance, they extended both Leonard Williams and Rasheed Shahid after acquiring them on expiring deals in the past.
According to The Ringer, Seattle will pay the remaining $9.777 million on Nelson's deal. By acquiring Nelson, who has long been viewed as one of the best interior linemen in the league, it gives their offensive line some flexibility. With Nelson, he can come in and assume his typical left guard position, which would allow 2025 first-round pick Grey Zabel to move to right guard, which he played at North Dakota State.
In seven games played this season, Nelson has allowed just six pressures and no sacks, according to TruMedia. He's allowed just five sacks over the last five seasons, which will be a welcome sight for Sam Darnold. The six-time All-Pro (three first-team) will also help Seattle's ground game, which is getting healthier with the looming returns of backs Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price.
After beating the Chiefs on Sunday night, the Seahawks enter Week 8 with a 4-3 record that has them in second place in the NFC West and positioned as the No. 8 seed in the NFC. As for the Colts, they have been eyed as a seller ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline following their 2-5 start to the season and the recent firing of general manager Chris Ballard. Nelson, who has been with the organization since being the No. 6 overall pick at the 2018 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame, was one of the key players rumored to be on the block.
He is the first to be dealt as they fill the cupboard back up with draft capital before embarking on what most view as a full rebuild. As a reminder, the Colts do not own their 2027 first-round pick, shipping that selection away last deadline to acquire cornerback Sauce Gardner. Outside of Nelson, running back Jonathan Taylor and pass rusher DeForest Buckner are other possible trade chips Indy may ship out before the deadline.
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