Former Seattle Seahawks pass rusher Cliff Avril is set for a draft-week return to the spotlight.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted that Avril is listed as the former Seattle player who will announce one of the franchise’s selections at the 2026 NFL Draft. That gives the Seahawks a recognizable Super Bowl-era presence at an event that already carries extra interest for Seattle, which enters draft week with only four picks and several roster questions still in play. The 2026 NFL Draft runs April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.
Avril’s appearance is a small story on its own. For Seahawks fans, though, it lands at a useful time. Seattle is coming off a Super Bowl-winning season, holds the No. 32 pick, and does not have much margin for error with a compact draft board that currently includes picks No. 32, 64, 96 and 188. That makes every clue about the team’s thinking more relevant than usual.
Cliff Avril gives Seattle a familiar draft-week face
Avril played for the Seahawks from 2013 through 2018 and was part of the team’s back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, including the Super Bowl XLVIII title run. So while this is not franchise-shaping news by itself, it is the kind of nostalgic draft-week detail that should resonate with Seattle fans who still associate Avril with the peak of the Seahawks’ defensive era.
The timing also matters. The NFL has positioned this year’s draft as a major fan event in Pittsburgh, and teams are leaning on former stars and recognizable names to announce selections throughout the weekend. Seattle using Avril fits that pattern while also tapping into one of the most popular stretches in franchise history.
The bigger Seahawks question is what Seattle does with a small draft class
Seattle’s official draft previews and mock-draft tracker make clear how tight the Seahawks’ draft inventory is this year. The Seahawks hold only four selections, starting with the final pick of the first round after winning the Super Bowl. That naturally puts more weight on whether John Schneider stays put at No. 32 or looks for another trade-down path to add volume.
Recent Seahawks coverage has also started to sketch the team’s priorities.
In one recent Heavy story, Schneider made his stance on draft risk sound unusually firm, saying Seattle’s health and performance staff can effectively take a prospect off the board if the durability concerns are too strong. That matters because it suggests the Seahawks may lean even harder than usual toward availability and long-term stability, not just upside.
Seattle has also done pre-draft work on players who line up with obvious roster questions. Heavy recently covered the Seahawks hosting South Carolina cornerback Brandon Cisse, a visit that stood out because Seattle has a hole to manage in the secondary. Another Heavy report noted Seattle’s interest in Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr., which also tracks with the backfield uncertainty after Kenneth Walker III’s departure and Zach Charbonnet’s recovery timeline.
Even broader mock-draft chatter reflects those same themes. Seattle’s own mock draft tracker has repeatedly highlighted running back and cornerback as plausible early targets, and outside projections have connected the Seahawks to backfield help at No. 32. That does not tell fans exactly what Seattle will do, but it does narrow the conversation around the spots most worth watching when Avril steps to the podium.
So yes, the Cliff Avril note is light.
But as a Seahawks draft-week hook, it works because it points fans back to the real question: what exactly is Seattle going to do with a four-pick class, a late first-round slot, and several meaningful needs still sitting on the board? Avril announcing one of those picks gives the moment some familiar franchise weight. The pick itself will be the part that matters more.
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