NFL draft 2026: Seahawks draft Notre Dame RB Jadarian Price

RENTON - Would the Seahawks stick and use their pick with the last selection of the first round of Thursday's NFL draft?

Or would they wheel and deal and wait until Friday to add to the roster that will be tasked with the enviable but challenging task of winning another Super Bowl?

The answer came at 7:59 p.m. when it was reported that the Seahawks were keeping the pick instead of trading down to add to the four picks they had entering the draft.

Then just a few minutes later came the announcement of the pick itself - running back Jadarian Price of Notre Dame, a player who answers what was perceived to be the biggest need on the team's roster.

Price will help fill the void left by the departure of Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, who signed a three-year contract with the Chiefs worth up to $45 million and also serve as a hedge while Zach Charbonnet continues his recovery from an ACL injury.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider said the Seahawks were in talks on some trades to move back but that the heavy trading action in the round --- there were eight trades overall --- helped kill some of their options.

And ultimately, when the trade talks didn't work out, the lure of adding Price was also too much to resist.

"We felt like we had some opportunities (to move back) for a minute, he said. "They fell apart. A lot of trading going on right ahead of us. But I mean, he kind of stood alone. Great player, good person, outstanding competitor. He's a Seahawk."

Schneider noted that there were five trades in the six picks before the Seahawks' turn at 32, and they thought that some of the teams might be moving up to take Price, especially because there had been so much speculation that Seattle would take him.

"We were actually kind of concerned people were going to go ahead of us, because we felt like it was so out there (about Seattle's potential interest in him) in terms of the mock drafts and what have you," Schneider said of Price, who is the fourth running back taken in the first round in team history following Curt Warner (third in 1983), Shaun Alexander (19th in 2000) and Rashaad Penny (27th in 2018). Schneider's comments seemed to hint that Seattle's preferred plan might have been to be able to trade down and still get Price later.

Price was generally considered to be the second-best running back in the draft behind his Notre Dame teammate, Jeremiyah Love, who went third to the Arizona Cardinals, with what was considered to be a wide gap between Price and the other running backs available. Price averaged 6.0 yards per carry in 2025 with 674 yards on 113 carries and 11 touchdowns while sharing carries with Love.

Price also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in 2025, additional evidence to the Seahawks that he can help replace the kind of game-changing ability they had with Walker.

"He has home-run speed," Schneider said.

Price, a native of Denison, Texas, was listed at 5-foot-11, 203 pounds by the Seahawks but said he plans to be at about 210 in the fall.

While getting a replacement for Walker may have been the obvious goal in taking Price, the Seahawks were unsure exactly when Charbonnet will be back from an ACL injury suffered in the NFC divisional playoff win over the 49ers on Jan. 18.

Coach Mike Macdonald said Charbonnet's recovery is going well but said he cannot give a timeline for his return. ACL injuries typically require about a nine-month recovery, putting a return potentially in late October or early November.

After seeing Walker sign with Kansas City, the Seahawks signed free agent Emanuel Wilson of Green Bay to buffet a group of returners that includes George Holani, Kenny McIntosh, Cam Akers and Jacardia Wright in addition to Charbonnet.

But none of those players appears to have the kind of explosiveness that Walker had, which Price may be able to replace.

"I knew that Seattle was pretty interested in me," Price said in a conference call with Seahawks media shortly after the pick was made.

That interest was further confirmed during Zoom meetings Price had with new running backs coach Thomas Hammock, who was the head coach at Northern Illinois from 2019-25 and led his team to a win over Price and Notre Dame in 2024 in South Bend, Ind.

Price said Hammock joked that if he'd been Price's coach, he would have handed him the ball more in that game.

"Just straight ball and getting to know each other,'' Price said of the talks with Hammock. "Just felt like it was going to be a good fit for me.''

If there's a question about Price, it's that he was little-used in the passing game at Notre Dame with just six receptions for 87 yards last season.

Still, two of those went for touchdowns, further illustrating his nose for the end zone.

"I just have a knack for the touchdown," Price said. "Make that one guy miss and get into the end zone."

Some also have questioned Price's ball security after he had three fumbles last season.

But Schneider pointed to the influence of Hammock - who was the running backs coach for the Ravens from 2014-18 before leaving for NIU - and said he is confident that won't be an issue with the Seahawks.

"I'm sure it will improve," Schneider said.

The Seahawks had just four picks coming into the draft - each of their own in the first three rounds and a sixth-rounder from Cleveland because of a trade involving center Nick Harris in 2024 in which they gave up a seventh-rounder.

They dealt a sixth-round pick last year to Jacksonville for defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris.

That led to the speculation the Seahawks would look to trade down, which Schneider helped fuel earlier in the week when he said that everyone knows they would be "looking to move down."

Schneider said as the first round kicked off that, "We thought we were going back for sure." But then came the run of trades right before Seattle selected, which not only eliminated some options but also convinced the Seahawks to stay put.

But after using their original first-round pick only once from 2012-21, this is the fifth consecutive year the Seahawks have kept their first-round selection and made a pick.

Schneider said "there's a concern there" that the Seahawks have only three more picks - Nos. 64, 96 and 188 - at the moment. But he said as the moment loomed that "at some point you have to make a decision."

Price said he was celebrating draft night back in Denison with family, including his mother, Jessica Butler, a breast cancer survivor who was first diagnosed when Price was 12.

"It's inspired me a lot," Price said of watching his mom's journey to being declared cancer-free in 2017. "Watching my mom go through that made me believe that there's nothing that could stop me getting to my dreams."

The pick then set off a moment that neither Price nor his mother and family will forget.

"It was wild, because I [was] walking around the whole room, and as soon as Seattle was up, I was like, 'All right, this is the last one, let's sit down,'" Price said. "As I was going to sit down, I get the call, and emotions just hit. I thought I would be a little bit more calm, but that phone call is a little different. It was just immediate tears and joy.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 11:41 PM.