KIRKLAND — Already facing myriad options in the first round of next weekend’s NFL draft, Seattle Seahawks team president Tim Ruskell added another to the long list Friday morning:
Put off the decision.
Ruskell said that the Seahawks are entertaining offers for their first-round pick, No. 25 overall. The team could move down a few spots in the first round and would consider doing the same with their picks in Rounds 2 and 3.
“We would not mind picking up extra picks in this draft,” Ruskell said Friday, eight days before the start of the 2008 draft. “We don’t have our fifth (round pick, which was traded for running back Alvin Pearman), and the extra picks have been good to us (over the years); we look at them as gold.
“… A lot of teams have been calling us and saying: ‘Are you willing to move?’ Of course, we say yes.”
Willing to move down, anyway. Ruskell said that trading up in the first round is probably not an option.
“We’re not in a great position to move up this year just because we don’t have many picks,” he said.
The reason the Seahawks are considering the idea of moving down, Ruskell added, is that the team has no glaring need that has to be addressed in Round 1. The Seahawks would like to add more picks in the middle rounds so they can address several different needs.
But the decision of whether to trade down will be contingent on what the Seahawks receive in return.
In last year’s draft, the No. 25 and 26 picks were involved in deals. The New York Jets traded up from No. 25 to No. 14, giving up second- and fifth-round choices in the process, to select Pitt cornerback Darrelle Revis. Philadelphia traded down 10 spots from No. 25 and acquired third- and fifth-round picks.
Trading draft picks is fairly easy to do, thanks to a “draft value chart” that front-office personnel carry with them on draft weekend. The chart assigns a point value to each draft pick, helping to determine what a team can expect in return.
According to a sample chart published on the Web site www.theredzone.org, the first overall pick is worth 3,000 points. No. 10 would be worth 1,300, No. 16 is worth 1,000, and so on. Third-round picks escalate between 116 and 265 points, while seventh-round picks are all worth less than 15 points each.
According to the chart, the 25th overall pick is worth 720 points. If the Seahawks were to drop down to, say, No. 30, they could probably expect a late third- or early fourth-round pick — if not multiple picks.
The chart makes draft-day movement easier than ever.
“Even if you think you’re going to fool somebody, they’re like: ‘Geez, that doesn’t match up with the chart,’” said Ruskell, who does not know the origin of the oft-used draft value chart. “You can’t fool people anymore.”
The chart isn’t always set in stone. For example, the Cleveland Browns gave up a first-round pick in this year’s draft to move up from the top of the second round — No. 36 overall — to the 22nd overall pick of the 2007 draft. That allowed Cleveland to select Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn.
The Seahawks traded down in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft, acquiring an extra pick that they would eventually use to move up in Round 2. The second trade allowed the team to draft a USC middle linebacker named Lofa Tatupu, who turned out to be quite a find.
The Seahawks could go any number of directions when the No. 25 pick arrives next Saturday. Whether they trade out of the spot or stand pat, the team feels like there are plenty of options at hand.
“This is one of the few drafts I’ve gone into where we really don’t feel hostage to a position,” Ruskell said. “… We could go any number of ways. We’re not like, ‘We’ve got to have this.’ And that’s refreshing. That’s a little different than what I’m used to.”
Quick slants: Fullback Leonard Weaver was expected to sign his one-year tender on Friday afternoon. … Ruskell said that the draft approach will not change even though head coach Mike Holmgren is entering the final season of his career. “This process has been exactly the same in terms of Mike’s involvement and what we’re asking (from) the coaches,” Ruskell said, adding that head-coach-in-waiting Jim Mora will not have an expanded role on draft day. … Aiming for a faster draft and more of a prime-time feel, the NFL has changed the scheduling of the event. Next Saturday will include only two rounds, instead of the usual three, and will begin a few hours later, at noon Pacific Time.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
