Quenton Nelson knows how hard it is to block Jeffery Simmons. When Nelson was a guard for the Colts and Simmons was a defensive tackle for the Titans, the two played against each other 13 times. And when Nelson got traded to the Seahawks on Tuesday, he thought he was going to get a break from facing Simmons.
That didn’t happen. Shortly after Nelson got traded to the Seahawks, Simmons got traded to the Bears. Who play the Seahawks on Monday night, in the first game for both players on their new teams.
Nelson said he considers Simmons one of the best opponents he’s faced, and he’s ready for a big challenge when the Bears visit Seattle on Monday night.
“He’s an amazing football player and competitor. I was like, Man, can’t get away from this guy. It’ll be another battle against him this week,” Nelson said.
Nelson vs. Simmons will be the most-watched offensive lineman vs. defensive lineman battle of this NFL season, as two All-Pros go at it again, now on new teams with Super Bowl aspirations.
Seahawks Clips
One of the most basic realities of the NFL trade market is that, when a team adds a key player during a given season, someone will be taking a seat.
In Seattle, the “someone” who will be leaving the starting lineup after the arrival of guard Quenton Nelson is Anthony Bradford. With Nelson taking over at left guard and 2025 first-rounder Grey Zabel moving to right guard, former starting right guard Anthony Bradford will move to the bench.
“It’s not an easy situation,” coach Mike Macdonald told reporters on Thursday. “I thought Anthony played good football for us, and he has, and he’s earned a significant role on our team, a starting-level role. It’s one of those ‘through not around’ type of things with AB that is not easy.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it, and he believes this when we say this, how much we love him. The guys love him in the locker room. He’s a fantastic teammate. We don’t expect him to be jumping over joy in this situation because that’s not realistic, but he’s going to be a great teammate and he’s going to stay ready.
“We know how this league works. You’re a play away from him playing every play again. It’s not an easy situation, but he’s a tough cookie, and the guys will have his back as well and we’re behind him as well, but it’s not easy.”
Making it even less easy for Bradford is the fact that the fourth-round pick in 2023 is in a contract year. And it becomes much harder to earn a new contract, in Seattle or elsewhere, if Bradford isn’t playing.
The fact that the Seahawks traded for Nelson during Bradford’s contract year is a fairly clear sign that the Seahawks are ready to move on.
Bradford has 44 regular-season appearances and 40 regular-season starts. He started all three postseason games in 2025, including Super Bowl LX.
Seahawks rookie running back Jadarian Price is nearing a return.
The team designated him to return to practice from injured reserve on Thursday.
Coach Mike Macdonald said it is “realistic” for Price to play on Monday night against the Bears. Veteran running back Zach Charbonnet also could return.
Price missed the past four games with a chest injury.
Emanuel Wilson leads the Seahawks with 111 carries for 403 yards and three touchdowns.
Bears running back Kyle Monangai remains sidelined as Chicago begins its practice week for the Monday night match with Seattle.
Monangai (thumb/toe) has not played since Oct. 4 win over the Jets, in which he had 30 carries for 146 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He’s listed as a non-participant on Thursday, though the team’s report is an estimate, as the club did not hold a formal practice.
Monangai also rushed for 100 yards with a TD in the Week 1 victory over the Panthers.
Also on the injury report, linebacker D’Marco Jackson (ankle) and defensive back Malik Muhammad (toe) are listed as limited.
Linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and linebacker Jack Sanborn (concussion) were listed as full.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed that the team won’t be changing Quenton Nelson’s position when he takes the field with the team for the first time.
Nelson played left guard throughout his time with the Colts and Macdonald said at a Thursday press conference that Nelson will remain at that spot in Seattle. Grey Zabel has been the starter at that spot, but he will switch to the right side and Anthony Bradford will move into a reserve role.
Macdonald also confirmed that the Seahawks plan to have Nelson taking his first game snaps with the team against the Bears on Monday night.
Nelson could be matched up with a familiar foe in his Seahawks debut. The Bears traded for defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons on Thursday and the two players met a number of times while they were playing in the AFC South, including the Titans’ upset win over the Colts a couple of weeks ago.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Ravens announced that they had claimed guard Christian Haynes off waivers.
But there was a problem with that — the Dolphins had, too.
So, Haynes will actually be headed to Miami, as the Dolphins are higher on the waiver-claim priority list because they have a worse record.
The Seahawks waived Haynes on Tuesday after acquiring Quenton Nelson via trade from the Colts.
Haynes, 26, was a Seattle third-round pick in the 2024 draft. He started five games for the Seahawks this season, though the last one was the Week 6 loss to Denver before he was relegated to special teams duty for Sunday’s win over the Chiefs.
In all, Haynes has appeared in 31 games with five starts over the last three seasons.
As a corresponding move, the Dolphins have waived offensive lineman DJ Campbell.
With all the talk about asses and advertisements, it’s easy to forget that a fairly important election is coming in six days.
Plenty of NFL owners are very much aware.
The folks at Front Office Sports have compiled a list of donations made by the people who hold the paper on pro football franchises, based on data from the Federal Election Commission.
The total is more than $18 million, with nearly half of that amount coming from one person. Rob Walton of the Broncos has given $8.95 million, primarily to Republican candidates and political action committees.
New Seahawks owner Vinod Kholsa has given $2.09 million, primarily to Democratic causes. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has donated $1.81 million, primarily to Republican causes. Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have given $1.56 million, primarily to Republican causes. No other owners have given more than $1 million.
Of the top 12 owners who wrote checks to candidates, 10 of them primarily gave to Republican candidates and PACs. Which makes sense. More than anything else, rich people tend to gravitate toward a political philosophy based on lower taxes.
Even though the game itself was far from compelling, the matchup of a pair of former AFC West rivals delivered big numbers on Sunday night.
NBC has announced that the Week 7 Chiefs-Seahawks game attracted 26.3 million viewers, on average. It’s the biggest Week 7 Sunday night audience since 2013.
The game between the previously-unbeaten Chiefs and the defending Super Bowl champions peaked at 29.0 million viewers from 9:30 to 9:45 p.m. ET.
In 2013, Peyton Manning’s return to Indianapolis racked up 27.0 million viewers on Sunday Night Football.
Beyond being the biggest Week 7 Sunday night audience in 13 years, the Chiefs-Seahawks game generated the biggest viewership of any NBC game in 2026.
It goes without saying (but, what the hell, I’ll say it anyway) that the Week 7 number likely won’t be threatened by Sunday night’s game between the 2-5 Eagles and the 1-4-1 Commanders.
The Seahawks and 49ers hope to benefit in the near term from the trades they made with the Colts on Tuesday, but another team could wind up as a long-term winner.
When the Colts were in a better position a little less than a year ago, then-General Manager Chris Ballard dealt Indy’s 2026 and 2027 first-round picks as well as wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner. The Colts’ collapse after that deal led to the Jets landing tight end Kenyon Sadiq with the 16th overall pick this year and the other first-round pick looks like it will come much earlier in the 2027 draft.
Moving guard Quenton Nelson to the Seahawks and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the 49ers will hurt the Colts’ chances of winning their next 10 games and their first-round pick would be No. 7 overall if the season ended today. Should the Colts move others like running back Jonathan Taylor ahead of the deadline, the prospects for that pick would look even better.
Given the dim prospects for the Jets’ own pick — No. 10 at the moment — and their ownership of the higher pick between the Cowboys’ and Packers’ first-rounders through the Quinnen Williams trade, that’s a lot of capital for the team to use in their attempt to end what will likely continue to be the league’s longest postseason drought.
The Sunday Splash! report regarding a potential fire sale in Indy was conditioned on the Colts’ performance in their three remaining games before the trade deadline. After only one game, they tapped the “Everything Must Go” sign in the front yard.
Guard Quenton Nelson, as expected, has been traded to the Seahawks. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner has been traded back to the 49ers, as expected.
So who’s next? Running back Jonathan Taylor has been the focal point of speculation, with ESPN linking him to the Packers, Seahawks, Broncos, and Vikings.
The Vikings got the ultimate opportunity to scout Taylor on Sunday, when he accounted for 110 of the team’s 218 total offensive yards in a 16-10 Minnesota win. Taylor averaged 5.3 yards per carry and went 38 yards for the Colts’ only touchdown of the day.
There’s an obvious incentive to maximize 2027 draft picks, especially with the Colts’ first-rounder committed to the Jets as the back end of the Sauce Gardner trade. But Taylor is under contract for two more years; they may want to keep him until the offseason, giving the next G.M. the opportunity to decide whether to retain Taylor or trade him in March.
Of course, Taylor would have more value now to a team that hopes to augment its roster for a playoff push. Although the Vikings were burned 37 years ago this month by the Herschel Walker trade, it would take much less than the ridiculous haul of picks and players (which became more picks after the Cowboys cut them) to get Taylor.
Taylor could make a huge difference for a team premised on a stout defense. While Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason have proven to be capable options at tailback, Taylor is among the best in the league. He has the power and speed to move the chains and, when given an opening, go the distance.
Whatever happens with Taylor, it’s clear the Colts aren’t waiting to see what happens over the next two weekends. In a deadline-driven business, the timeline for the Colts isn’t being driven by the deadline. It’s being determined by getting deals done now and moving on.
