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The Seahawks Are Hosting Two First-Round Cornerbacks This Week. The Position Battle Starts Before the Draft.
South Carolina’s Brandon Cisse is visiting the VMAC this week, and Tennessee’s Colton Hood has already been through the building. Two projected first-round cornerbacks, two of the Seahawks’ precious 30 formal visits, and a blinking neon sign that says: we are not done at corner.
The visits were reported by ESPN’s Jordan Reid (Cisse) and spotted via an Instagram post by edge rusher Keyshawn James-Newby, whose photo at Lumen Field showed a Jumbotron graphic welcoming Hood. Neither visit is subtle. Neither is meant to be.
Cisse ran a 4.40 at his Pro Day and posted a 41-inch vertical at the combine. Hood ran a 4.44 with a 40.5-inch vertical. Both are athletic freaks who play physical football. Cisse was PFF’s 18th-best run-defending cornerback in the country last season. Hood was a Jim Thorpe semifinalist and All-SEC second team. The traits scream Macdonald’s system, where corners tackle like linebackers and press like their mortgage depends on it.
4.40s
Brandon Cisse’s 40-yard dash at his Pro Day. Hood ran a 4.44 at the combine. Both are first-round athletic profiles.
Here’s the connective tissue that matters: last year, Seattle hosted Bryce Cabeldue, Nick Emmanwori, and Jalen Milroe for top-30 visits. All three ended up on the roster. Schneider’s visit-to-draft pipeline has a track record. If you’re walking through that VMAC door two weeks before Pittsburgh, the conversation isn’t hypothetical.
The draft math remains the same. Four picks. Three holes. Corner is competing with edge rusher for the 32nd pick, and the VMAC guest list suggests Schneider hasn’t blinked on either position. He’s just talking to everyone and committing to nothing. Vintage.
SOURCES →
Roster
Nwosu’s $20M Cap Hit Is Staying. And That’s the Whole Point.
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$20M
Nwosu’s 2026 cap hit. The Seahawks are keeping it on the books rather than cutting him for $11.5M in savings.
That’s the word from Pro Football Rumors, and it tracks with what Schneider said at the league meeting: no changes planned. Six months ago, Nwosu was the most obvious cap casualty on the roster. Cutting him would have saved $11.5 million. But Boye Mafe left for Cincinnati. DeMarcus Lawrence flirted with retirement before confirming he’s coming back. And suddenly, cutting your only healthy, proven edge rusher who played 16 games last season doesn’t look like good math anymore.
Nwosu tied Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy for the team lead with seven sacks in 2025. Not elite production for $20M, but production from a guy who was actually on the field. After two injury-ravaged seasons prior, that counts for something on a Super Bowl team that isn’t going to panic-spend in April.
The Seahawks now sit with roughly $33 million in cap space, eighth-most in the league. Enough for a Witherspoon extension, enough for rookies, and enough to absorb Nwosu’s number without blinking. The edge room is thin. Nwosu is the thread holding it together.
SOURCES →
AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Dexter Lawrence has requested a trade from the Giants, per Adam Schefter. Half a dozen teams are sniffing around. The Seahawks aren’t among them, but the ripple effects could push interior D-line prospects down draft boards and into Seattle’s lap at 32. CBS Sports
The offseason program starts in 11 days. April 20. Last year’s near-perfect voluntary attendance was a pillar of the Super Bowl run. Macdonald has made that standard clear. The trophy didn’t change the expectations. It raised them. Seattle Today
Arkansas RB Mike Washington Jr. will visit the VMAC later this month. He ran a 4.33 at the combine — fastest among all backs — and rushed for 1,070 yards at Arkansas. Day 2 running back believers, your guy has an appointment in Renton. Field Gulls
The 49ers finalized their coaching staff and K.J. Wright is officially the linebackers coach. Spent 11 years playing for Seattle, now coaching for San Francisco. Robert Saleh called him ‘off limits’ for poaching. A Seahawk legend in enemy colors. It still stings a little. Pro Football Rumors
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Sean McVay admitted Davante Adams was on the trade block. Puka Nacua’s extension timeline keeps getting pushed. And USA Today’s Nate Davis reported the Rams are already exploring a “reimagined receiver room” — which is corporate speak for “we might blow this up.” The team that opens its season in Melbourne is shopping its WR2 and can’t lock down its WR1. Somewhere in Renton, JSN is polishing his $168.6 million contract and smiling.
NINERS
The 49ers are being pitched as a Dexter Lawrence trade destination, with Bleacher Report suggesting a package of a second-rounder, a fourth-rounder, and Brandon Aiyuk. That’s right: San Francisco might have to give away the receiver nobody wants just to get a phone call returned. Meanwhile, SI on the 49ers argued the team should pass entirely because the cap math doesn’t work. When your own beat writers are telling you to stop shopping, the credit card is maxed.
CARDINALS
The Cardinals haven’t scheduled a single pre-draft meeting with a top offensive lineman, per PHNXCardinals, which hints they’re going edge rusher at No. 3. David Bailey is the betting favorite. The problem? Arizona went 3-14 last year, their head coach Mike LaFleur has zero NFL head coaching experience, and their public draft strategy is “we do not plan to draft for need.” Bold approach for a franchise that led for just 47 offensive snaps over the final nine games of 2025. Why draft for need when you can draft for vibes?
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
In 1997, the Seahawks traded quarterback Rick Mirer and a fourth-round pick to the Chicago Bears for their first-round pick. Seattle then flipped that pick in a deal with the Atlanta Falcons to move up and draft a cornerback third overall. Who was the cornerback the Seahawks selected?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Shawn Springs. The Seahawks packaged the Bears’ first-round pick (11th overall) in a trade with the Falcons to move up to the third overall pick and select Springs, an All-American from Ohio State who went on to play four seasons in Seattle.
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Fourteen days to Pittsburgh. Two corners walked through the VMAC door this week. Nwosu's staying. The board is filling in. Go Hawks. — The Rooster