There’s something cathartic when you can look at a trade and say, ‘That team won, and that team lost.’ You look at the Colts trade with the Eagles for Carson Wentz, and Philadelphia won in a landslide. On the other hand, you look at the Cardinals' trade with the Texans for DeAndre Hopkins, and it’s a little funky because no one really made a postseason run.
Now, the Seahawks trade with the Broncos to offload Russell Wilson? That one has been incredibly one-sided, but after Seattle's Super Bowl win on Sunday, it became even clearer: Almost every single draft pick they got turned into a game-changer.
Seahawks fleecing: Russell Wilson traded for four key players
In case you forgot, on March 16, 2022, the Seahawks traded Russell Wilson to Denver for five draft picks and: a 2022 first, 2022 second, 2022 fifth, 2023 first, and 2023 second. Here’s how all of those turned out:
Draft Pick | Player |
|---|---|
2022 First | Charlie Cross (OT) |
2022 Second | Boye Mafe (DE) |
2022 Fifth | Traded to KC |
2023 First | Devon Witherspoon (CB) |
2023 Second | Derick Hall (DE) |
Hitting on five picks from one trade between two drafts? Buddy, that’s awesome.
2022 NFL Draft
2022 first round
Going into the 2022 draft, the Seahawks didn’t have any first-round picks. Back in 2020, they traded it to the Jets for Jamal Adams.
In free agency of that season, they lost their left tackle, Duane Brown, so they filled the job in the draft with Charlie Cross. It took him a couple of years to really get going, but he’s an above-average tackle and absolutely not a liability… which is good, especially since the Giants drafted Evan Neal two picks earlier and he totally stinks.
So this isn’t exactly a gorgeous draft pick, but that’s what happens when you pick linemen in the middle of the first round. Regardless, it’s still a hit.
2022 second round
This is where everything really came to life. They had two picks this round, so it allowed them to have more freedom with their picks.
With the pick they got from Denver (40th), they picked Boye Mafe, who has been good but not great. The pick directly after that was their own, and they grabbed Kenneth Walker III… who would eventually be the Super Bowl MVP, and if there was one, probably the NFL’s postseason MVP.
2022 fifth round
This doesn’t really mean anything for Seattle, but it is interesting: they traded the fifth-round pick that they got from Denver to the Chiefs. The Chiefs used it to draft Darrian Kinnard, who, up until this season, won three consecutive Super Bowls.
Again, not important, but neat.
For completeness’ sake, the Seahawks used the two picks they got from Kansas City to get Tyreke Smith (DE) and Dareke Young (WR). Neither of those guys has done anything.
2023 NFL Draft
2023 first round
In 2023, Seattle had two first-round picks, and they absolutely crushed it. The first pick was Denver’s because they just played a season with Russell Wilson; at fifth-overall, Seattle picked the now three-time Pro-Bowler and 2025 All-Pro cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Then, with the 20th pick, they used their own pick to grab the 2025 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
So… Pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty, prettyyyyyyyy good.
2023 second round
It didn’t stop there. They then used Denver’s second-round pick (37th overall) to draft Derick Hall, who just had two sacks in the Super Bowl… one of which was the strip sack at the end of the third quarter that killed the Patriots.
Their second second-round pick was Zach Charbonnet. Not every running back can handle a 2024 Saquon Barkley-esque workload, and Seattle knows that. They gave Walker and Charbonnet just about as close to a 50-50 split in the workload as you’ll see.
So, not only is Charbonnet a pretty good running back, but when he tore his ACL in the playoffs, Walker was still remarkably fresh for his dominant run.
How the Seahawks nailed the Russell Wilson trade
The bottom line is that not only did the Seahawks get rid of a bad quarterback and nail the draft picks that they got for him, but those picks also allowed them to get other awesome guys with incredibly valuable picks.
While all of this was happening, Denver had a 5-12 and an 8-9 season before they cut DangeRuss and took a record-breaking $85 million dead cap hit (paying someone while they don’t play football for your team).
They have bounced back with a couple of good drafts, offseasons, and actual seasons. This might not necessarily have been a fleecing by Seattle at the time because Wilson seemed like he was worth all of those picks, but at this point, it’s most definitely a fleecing. But that’s what happens when you win a Super Bowl.