The Seahawks had made 10 selections in the 2019 NFL draft through the sixth round on Saturday. Without a seventh-rounder this year, Seattle traded back into the draft to choose wide receiver John Ursua out of Hawaii.
In exchange, Seattle gave Jacksonville a 2020 sixth-round pick.
The Seahawks feared Ursua wouldn’t last long enough to eventually sign as an undrafted free agent.
“Besides the player, who we all really liked as a competitive slot receiver, when you’re in the seventh round, you have to look at where guys have visited, and who’s had private workouts with them, and who’s spent the most amount of time with them,” general manager John Schneider explained Saturday.
Schneider said there were several teams the Seahawks were concerned about and waiting it out wasn’t worth the risk.
“We had 12 picks next year, so, let’s go get the guy that everybody feels really good about, let’s just lock it down,” Schneider said. “He’s a really cool kid.”
Schneider and the Seahawks are now down another 2020 draft pick. On Monday, Seattle traded a seventh-round selection to the Patriots for tight end Jacob Hollister.
