Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
After a new name popped up in trade rumors for the New Orleans Saints, one team has arrived as a possible trade partner.
Less than a week away from the NFL’s Nov. 4 trade deadline, Saints’ starting right guard Cesar Ruiz has become a popular name in trade discussion rumors. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that teams around the league appear to believe that Ruiz could be in the move “for the right price.”
The 2020 first-rounder still has three years remaining on his recent four-year extension. However, New Orleans has some promising depth in the offensive line that could allow them to be sellers along the unit in a way that it has not been able to be in the past.
Enter the Seattle Seahawks. Per reports, Seattle is in the market offensive lineman. Their connections to Ruiz make them an intriguing potential trade partner for the lineman. In fact, familiarity across the board could at least help to get talks started to see if the “right price” can be agreed upon.
The Seahawks fired former Saints’ offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and offensive line coach John Benton during the 2025 offseason. Both coaches are familiar with Ruiz after spending the 2024 season with him in the Big Easy. Benton in particular has high regard for Ruiz’s play.
John Benton spoke highly of Cesar Ruiz when he coached him last year in New Orleans.
Based on what I’ve heard last couple weeks, I would be very surprised if #Seahawks are not one of the teams that have reached out about his availability before deadline.
— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) October 29, 2025
Beyond the coaching connections, general managers Mickey Loomis of New Orleans and John Scheider of the Seahawks have a lot of familiarity with one another. The two are among the four longest tenured general managers in the NFL. They also orchestrated a massive deal in 2015 to move tight end Jimmy Graham to Seattle.
The Seahawks’s presumed pursuit for protection may be viewed as odd. The team has allowed just nine sacks on the season, tied for the second-fewest in the NFL. Per Next Gen Stats, the team has also only surrendered the sixth-lowest pressure percentage as well.
But the team’s starting right guard, Anthony Bradford, has struggled. Per Pro Football Focus (PFF), Bradford has underperformed as a pass blocker. He leads the team in both sacks (2) and pressures (17) allowed. He is one of the team’s lowest-graded run blockers as well and ranks as PFF’s second-lowest graded pass blocker among all offensive lineman with at least 200 such snaps.
Ruiz ranks No. 64 of 103 on the same NFL pass blocking list with 25 allowed pressures but no sacks credited against.
