The Seahawks traded down multiple times before picking for the first time in this year’s draft, from 32nd to 40th to 45th. However, when they eventually did make a selection, they nabbed the player they had ticketed for that No. 32 pick in the first place, in Colorado wideout Paul Richardson — Richardson’s name was the one the Seahawks had ready at the end of the first round on Thursday, GM John Schneider told reporters, including Terry Blount of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Here’s more from around the NFC West:
- Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said his team has interest in a big receiver, but hasn’t found the right guy yet and doesn’t want to force the issue (Twitter link via Blount).
- Cardinals GM Steve Keim admitted that he tried to get back into the second round via trade tonight, but didn’t find a taker, as Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com tweets. It’s not clear which player Arizona was targeting.
- According to Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, St. Louis suspected that another team wanted to draft Lamarcus Joyner, which is why the Rams moved up to No. 41 to take him. The club the Rams suspected of targeting Joyner then ended up trading down, says Fisher (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com). As Wagoner suggests (via Twitter), the Titans were the only team between No. 41 and the Rams’ original spot to trade down, so perhaps Fisher’s old team was eyeing Joyner as well.
- Asked about the possibility of acquiring more draft picks after a flurry of trades today, 49ers GM Trent Baalke replied, “The more darts you have, the more balloons you can pop” (Twitter link via Scott Kegley of 49ers.com).
- Baalke also weighed in on the topic of the team’s punt returner, suggesting that it’s not an area the 49ers feel a need to address: “LaMichael James did an excellent job for us a year ago, and that’s his job. We don’t feel an urgency to go out and replace LaMichael. That’s his job” (Sulia link via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee).