‘This Is Fun.’ Inside The Seahawks Draft Room During The 2025 NFL Draft

Having just landed Mills, the Seahawks decide to make another trade, their third in less than 20 minutes, sending pick No. 144 to the Cleveland Browns, who use it to select quarterback Shedeur Sanders, one of the most talked about players in the draft. For moving back, the Seahawks receive picks 166 and 192.

Throughout the past 20 minutes, there was tons of activity in the draft room and nearly non-stop phone conversations, with more than one call frequently taking place at once. Yet never did all of that activity feel panicked. Never did anyone look or sound flustered as picks were swapped with multiple teams, along with a trade involving another player. And that’s because the man at the center of all that action, Schneider, knows how to set the right tone for his draft room.

“When we talk about maintaining our culture here, I think what people don’t realize is what a big impact he had on our culture from the beginning until now and continues to do so,” Teasley said of Schneider. “That’s just one instance of what he’s able to do on draft day. The way that he controls the room and the way that he empowers everybody. His leadership, it brings calm.”

With a bit of a breather after all of the trade action, Schneider, Teasley, Macdonald, Hineline, Kirchner, Berry and a few coaches stand at the front of the room studying the board. In particular, they’re interested in getting special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh’s thoughts on how players might fit in that phase of the game.

As Schneider often points out, Day 3 is when players come flying off the board, which can be tough for scouts to see after they’ve put so much work into evaluating so many players who won’t end up on their team. One such player goes to the Jets at No. 162, with Florence noting that linebacker Francisco Mauigoa is a darn good player. That’s not to say he would have been the Seahawks’ next pick, but it’s an example of a scout having to watch a player he likes go to another team.

The Seahawks are back on the clock at No. 166. Before the Seahawks make the call to Colorado State receiver Tory Horton, Schneider asks for a reminder of Horton’s nickname, T-Bone.

Area scout Josh Graff then calls Horton to ask, “are you ready to come back up to Seattle,” a reference to Horton’s 30 visit to Seattle.

“We’re going to pick you right here at 166,” Graff continues.

Schneider then takes the phone offer an enthusiastic, “What up T-Bone? Welcome back.”

“I’m ready, I’m happy you guys got me,” Horton responds.

After the Cardinals take cornerback Denzel Burke at 174, the Seahawks are back on the clock near the end of the fifth round. In the room, several scouts and coaches tell Kubiak that he’s about to get his fullback.

And right on cue, running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu comes into the room moments before the Seahawks take Robbie Ouzts, a tight end turned fullback out of Alabama.

Hineline puts in the call to Ouzts and tells him, “Get excited because we’re about to select you right here. I’m telling you to get excited.”

That’s met with a “No way!” from Ouzts, followed by Hineline telling him, “I told you what we thought about you from the jump. Come in here and compete for the job to be our starting fullback. Don’t shave the mustache. That has to stay. That’s part of the contract.”

Macdonald ends his call with Ouzts giving him some very sound fullback advice, saying, “We’re really excited. Come in and smash guys, all right.” Then as the call wraps up, with brief chats with Schneider, Kubiak and Polamalu, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” is cued up in the draft room.

If you haven’t noticed by now, a regular occurrence for the Seahawks in this year’s draft, as well as last year’s, was to let area scouts make the initial call to a draft pick rather than it coming from Schneider or Macdonald. The idea behind that is to give a reward to and shine a little spotlight on the hard-working scouts who do so much vital work in preparation for the draft, usually with little to no fanfare.

“They’re such an important part of the process because they’re behind the scenes working,” Teasley said. “I mean, they’re going to get started a month from now. And then they’re going to be on the road, they’re going to be away from their families, the work that they put in, the time that they put in, and the relationships that they build with those players. They deserve that moment, they deserve that opportunity.”

After the Colts make consecutive picks, the Eagles take offensive lineman Myles Hinton at 192, putting the Seahawks back on the clock with one of the picks they got in their trade earlier in the day with Cleveland.

Parrish calls Kansas guard Bryce Cabeldue, the second of three offensive lineman the Seahawks will come away with in the draft.

After Parrish welcomes Cabeldue to the team, he hands the phone off to Schneider, who tells his newest lineman, “This time you’ve got to have a beer with me, all right? Congrats, man, come up here and get ready to kick some ass.”

The Raiders take linebacker Cody Lindenberg early in the seventh round, and after a long wait, the Seahawks are back on the clock at No. 223, getting ready to make their first of three seventh-round picks.

Keeping with the theme of the draft, offensive coaches return to the room to get ready for another player to be picked on that side of the ball.

Hineline calls University of Miami running back Damien Martinez, who before joining the Hurricanes was a Pac-12 standout at Oregon State.

“You want to come back up to the Pacific Northwest or what? We’re going to select you right here at 223,” Hineline says.

After Schneider offers his congrats, Martinez says, “Pacific Northwest, run that wide zone, baby.”

Macdonald takes the phone, adding, “We love your game, man. Just come be you. Be tough, run the heck out of that rock, and go smash people on special teams. How’s that sound?”

“That sounds awesome,” Martinez responds. “Let’s do it.”

After Schneider and Macdonald welcome Martinez to the team, Kubiak opens his turn with Martinez by asking, “Hey, you still remember how to run under center, right? From your Oregon State days?”

“It wasn’t too long ago,” he says. “I’m ready.”

In the back of the room, Janocko quips, “Nice introduction” with a laugh hearing Kubiak’s “run under center” line.

First-round pick Grey Zabel, who arrived at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center a couple of hours earlier, is in the draft room with his parents, Mark and Tanna, meeting coaches, scouts and executives as the seventh round continues to unfold.

The Packers take Micah Robinson, putting the Seahawks on the clock once again, at which point the Zabel family figures it’s a good time to step out of the room.

Just after Zabel and his folks leave the room, Kirchner calls out, asking where they went. They’re quickly caught nearby in a hallway and brought back into the draft room. Since he’s here, the Seahawks are going to let Zabel make the call to fellow offensive lineman and Midwesterner, Iowa tackle/guard Mason Richman.

“I’m just standing here in the room, and I’m supposed to ask you if you’re ready to be a Seahawk,” Zabel says.

After Zabel repeats himself to Richman, who isn’t quite sure what’s going on, Richman says, “Oh yeah, how’s that?”

As Macdonald, Kubiak and Benton all welcome Richman to the team, Zabel notes in the back of the room that he was, “nervous as hell” making the call.