The Indianapolis Colts have traded eight-time Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick, two weeks out from the trade deadline.
The Colts announced the deal on Tuesday (US time), ending Nelson’s nine-year run in Indianapolis. He was the No.6 pick in the 2018 draft and has started 136 games for the club.
Nelson was a first-team All-Pro in each of his first three seasons, from 2018 to 2020, and has made the Pro Bowl in every one of his first eight seasons.
Why the Colts sold
Indianapolis are 2-5 and fired general manager Chris Ballard on October 19, which led to speculation they would sell before the November 10 (US time) trade deadline, NFL.com reported. The 30-year-old Nelson is in the last year of the four-year, $80 million extension he signed in 2022.
Asked about trade talk last week, Nelson said he was “just focused on being my best and giving my absolute all every single day in everything I do.”
The Colts said 2026 fourth-round pick Jalen Farmer could get a look at left guard with Nelson gone.
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What Seattle get
The reigning Super Bowl champions are 4-3 and have struggled to protect Sam Darnold. CBS Sports reported that Seattle will pay the remaining $9.78 million of Nelson’s contract, citing The Ringer, and that Grey Zabel is likely to move to right guard, citing ESPN.
CBS Sports also reported that the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles had shown interest in Nelson, according to ESPN. Interim Colts general manager Ed Dodds worked in Seattle’s scouting department from 2007 to 2016.
NFL.com noted it is the fourth straight year Seahawks general manager John Schneider has made a mid-season trade, after deals for Leonard Williams in 2023, Ernest Jones in 2024 and Rashid Shaheed in 2025.
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More Colts moves coming?
NFL.com named running back Jonathan Taylor and defensive lineman DeForest Buckner as other Colts who could be available before the deadline. CBS Sports noted Indianapolis do not own their 2027 first-round pick after trading it to the New York Jets for Sauce Gardner.
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