The Seattle Seahawks acquired guard Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday, 27 October, in a trade confirmed by both teams. Seattle will send a 2027 third round pick and a 2028 fifth round pick to Indianapolis in the deal, which is pending a physical examination. The move came two weeks before the NFL trade deadline, and it added one of the league’s most decorated interior linemen to a Seattle team sitting at 4-3 after a win over Kansas City on Sunday night.
Quenton Nelson is 30 years old and was the sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Notre Dame. He has played only left guard in his nine NFL seasons. Seattle plans to use him at left guard.
Quenton Nelson brings a long record to Seattle
Quenton Nelson has earned Pro Bowl honours in each of his first eight seasons in the league. He was named first team All-Pro in each of his first three seasons, from 2018 through 2020, and he has been named second team All-Pro three times, including in each of the past two seasons. He is one of two offensive linemen in league history, along with Hall of Fame tackle Joe Thomas, to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first eight seasons.
Durability has been part of that record. Quenton Nelson has started every game over the past nine seasons except for four games he missed in 2021 because of an ankle injury. In 2026, he has not allowed a sack in 275 pass blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Reference figures cited by the Seahawks, and he is allowing a pressure rate of 2.2 percent. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 85.7 through seven weeks, with a pass blocking grade of 81.9, and it credited him with six pressures across those 275 pass blocking snaps.
Seattle’s need at the position was clear in the same figures. The Seahawks ranked 19th among 32 teams in pass blocking grade, at 65.0, through seven weeks, according to Pro Football Focus. The line had combined to allow 15 sacks, 31 hits and 72 hurries in that span, and Seattle quarterbacks had been sacked or hit on 18.2 percent of dropbacks, the fifth highest rate in the league. The Quenton Nelson trade addressed that area with a player who had already spent nine seasons blocking at a high level.
Quenton Nelson move reshapes Seattle line
Quenton Nelson will play left guard in Seattle, which creates a change for the rest of the line. Grey Zabel, Seattle’s 2025 first round pick, has been the starting left guard this season, and right guard was among the positions he played in college. Moving Zabel to the right side keeps him in the starting lineup while giving Seattle an established player on the left.
Quenton Nelson deal follows Colts changes
Indianapolis sits at 2-5 after a difficult start to the season. The Colts received two draft picks for Quenton Nelson, a player in the final year of his contract, while Seattle received a guard with eight Pro Bowl selections and a record of starting almost every game since 2018.
The San Francisco 49ers agreed on Tuesday, 27 October, to acquire defensive tackle DeForest Buckner from the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2027 fourth round pick. The deal is pending a physical examination, according to reporting of the trade, and it returns Buckner to the team that drafted him seventh overall in 2016 out of Oregon. San Francisco sits at 6-1, while Indianapolis sits at 2-5, and the trade came on the same day Indianapolis traded guard Quenton Nelson to Seattle.