RENTON, Wash. -- John Schneider's priorities in the 2026 NFL draft went beyond filling the Seattle Seahawks' remaining positional needs and adding to their league-low four selections.
The longtime general manager also wanted to reinject the Super Bowl-winning roster with a certain attitude.
It was rooted in a lesson Seattle's front office learned a decade ago, in the years that followed the team's first Super Bowl win in 2013. The franchise had drafted players to eventually replace the Legion of Boom-era stars, but by Schneider's admission, too many of them lacked the mindset to push the veterans they had grown up idolizing and had watched win a Super Bowl.
So as Schneider and coach Mike Macdonald embarked on their third draft together, in the wake of Seattle's victory in Super Bowl LX, the right competitive wiring was a prerequisite for any prospect they might consider.
It would be an unmistakable theme with their eight-man class. Comments from Schneider and Macdonald as well as conversations with sources inside the draft room shed light on how the Seahawks arrived at those decisions, the trades that doubled their pick total as well as some that fell through, and the common thread of Seattle making competitiveness a priority.
It started with the selection of running back Jadarian Price at No. 32 after Schneider struck out in his attempts to move out of the first round.
"Great player, the person's outstanding, the competitor," Schneider said. "He's a Seahawk."
Among the reasons the Seahawks were so high on Price was that while he had limited production as a pass catcher in college, they believed some of his skills as a runner compared favorably to the player he backed up at Notre Dame, Jeremiyah Love, who went third to the Arizona Cardinals. They also saw a high-character individual raised and inspired by a single mother, Jessica Butler, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was 12.
"Watching her go through that -- the chemotherapy, all that -- and still overcome that, I felt like I can overcome anything," Price said.
Macdonald noted the loyalty Price showed by staying in South Bend despite lucrative offers to start for other programs. That meant making significantly less money than he could have made elsewhere, but Price said he wanted to challenge himself to split reps "with the best player in college football... and I showed that I can do it at the highest level."
Jadarian Price, who went to Notre Dame, was drafted with the No. 32 pick in the NFL draft. Michael Caterina/Imagn Images According to sources with knowledge of the selection, Seattle's other top target was San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson, who went 27th to the Miami Dolphins after they traded up. With Johnson gone, the Seahawks' options were to take Price at 32 or trade back and hope to land him a few spots later. They discussed deals with the Tennessee Titans (No. 35) and New York Giants (No. 37) that both fell through.