"Let's go!" Schneider shouts. "Hell yeah, baby!"

Schneider and Carroll hug, then Schneider gives Seahawks president Chuck Arnold a big high five. The mood in the room is a combination of relief and joy.

Arnold jokes that he can get Schneider a new shirt—he literally was sweating out these picks leading up to No. 9—while Seahawks Chair Jody Allen defends her GM from Arnold's playful teasing.

6:01 p.m.

With the Seahawks still on the clock having not yet submitted their pick of Charles Cross, the phone rings. It's another team interested in moving up to acquire the No. 9 pick. With the clock winding down, there's a brief discussion about what the Seahawks would get back if they make the trade, and about if they'll still be able to get Cross if they do. Over the years, Schneider has been known to move back in the first round to acquire more draft picks, but in this case, everyone involved in the decision agrees it's not worth moving when they can just get their guy right now.

6:04 p.m.

"It's a no," Schneider says in the phone before hanging up.

6:05 p.m.

The selection of Cross is now official. Schneider gets his team's newest tackle on the phone.

"We're getting ready to select you right here, OK?" Schneider says. "You ready to come on up to Seattle and kick some ass?"

Schneider then hands the phone to Carroll who tells Cross, "Everybody's fired up. We were really hoping we'd be able to do this."

6:11 p.m.

"Great job, everybody!" Schneider shouts to the room.

7:30 p.m.

The Seahawks have used their only first-round pick, but there's still activity in the room. As everyone closely monitors the action, Schneider, VP of player personnel Trent Kirchner, director of college scouting Matt Berry, director of pro personnel Nolan Teasley and assistant director of pro personnel Willie Schneider work the phones. Nothing is imminent, but the Seahawks want to have options in place should they want to make a move to get back into the end of the first round.

As the first round winds down, a few players start going off the board that the Seahawks don't have rated very highly. The Seahawks refer to those as upsets, and upsets are good news. Somehow, it has become the job of pro scouting personnel assistant Armani Perez to call out, loudly, any upset. He isn't sure how this responsibility fell to him, but he plays along.

7:37 p.m.

The trade talks continue, with Berry talking to Tampa Bay about the 27th pick. Ultimately that doesn't go anywhere.

7:41 p.m.

Dallas takes Tulsa tackle Tyler Smith at No. 24, and moments later the Bucs and Seahawks decide not to go forward with a possible trade at 27 (not long after, Tampa would trade that pick to the Jaguars).

7:44 p.m.

Schneider is on the phone with Packers GM Brian Gutekunst, two longtime co-workers in Green Bay's front office now running their team's respective draft rooms and discussing a trade for the 28th pick.

After some back and forth discussions on the late-round picks that will balance out the trade, there's a tentative deal in place, but there are still several picks to go.

Eying their board, the Seahawks know that if they do make a trade to get back into the first round, they'll be able to either add one of their top pass rushers, or double down on the other side of the ball by adding another offensive lineman who is still high on their board.

7:49 p.m.

The Ravens select Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum.

7:55 p.m.

The Jets, after acquiring the 26th pick, go pass-rush, taking Florida State's Jermaine Johnson II, but it's not one of the two pass-rushers the Seahawks have in mind.

8 p.m.

With Green Bay's pick at 28 coming up, the Seahawks get ready to make their move, but a minute later, Schneider gets another call from Green Bay.

"They're picking," Schneider tells the room. "Green Bay is out."

8:28 p.m.

Minnesota closes out the first round by selecting Georgia safety Lewis Cine. Between the deal that didn't go through with Green Bay and the final pick, more trades are discussed, but for various reasons, nothing materializes.

As Schneider would later tell the media, the Seahawks standing pat at No. 9 wasn't necessarily by design, trade talks happened, but talks don't always lead to consummated deals.

"There were opportunities to move up that disappeared and there were a couple to move back that disappeared," he said. "But (Cross) came to us, so we were pretty blessed that he was there."

Ultimately the Seahawks finish the night comfortable with where they stand, heading into the next day with two early picks in the second round (40 and 41 overall), and as well as the 72nd pick. Most importantly, they got Cross, a player Schneider would later refer to as “a pillar at left tackle,” and while no trade back into the first round materialized, neither of their top remaining pass rushers were selected late in the first round.

Day 2

4:04 p.m.

On the TV screens in the front corners of the room, magician Criss Angel dangles from the sky above the draft stage in Las Vegas while wearing a straitjacket. The Seahawks draft room is confused.

4:07 p.m.

Schneider gets on the phone with someone at the league office to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding the Seahawks holding consecutive picks. Should the Seahawks keep both those picks, they can let the clock run out on the first pick, then make both selections before time runs out on the next pick. Essentially, the Seahawks have 14 minutes to make two picks (or make a pick then trade one), rather than having to do something with the 40th pick before their seven minutes are up.

4:13 p.m.

Tampa Bay kicks off Round 2 by selecting Houston's Logan Hall, another pass-rusher, but not one of Seattle's targets.

4:14 p.m.

Green Bay acquires No. 34 from Minnesota and takes North Dakota State receiver Christian Watson. Another pick down, another player off the board who isn't one of Seattle's targets. This day is off to a good start.

4:18 p.m.

Schneider fields a call from a team looking to move up to acquire one of Seattle's two picks at 40 or 41. Nothing materializes.

4:20 p.m.

After the Titans take cornerback Roger McCreary, the Jets move up to No. 36 and take running back Breece Hall. That move gets Seattle's attention, as he is one of two backs the Seahawks have left near the top of their board. As we'll soon see, there's another top back left, but with Hall going here affect how soon Ken Walker III gets picked?

4:25 p.m.

After safety Jalen Pitre goes 37th to Houston, another call comes in about one of Seattle's two upcoming picks. This too doesn't lead to a deal.

4:27 p.m.

The Giants trade the 38th pick to Atlanta, and the Falcons select Penn State's Arnold Ebiketie, one of the players in a cluster of remaining prospects at the top of the board, a group that also includes Boye Mafe.

The room deflates a little, but as long as Mafe survives the next pick, the Seahawks will be in great shape.

4:32 p.m.

Carroll, Schneider, Berry, Kirchner and Teasley huddle up to discuss their upcoming two picks. Arnold and Allen are right there as well, but more as observers. As Carroll would later note, while Allen isn't the type to come into the draft room and demand Schneider and Carroll take certain players, she was very engaged in the process and would give her opinions.

"She was great and she had fun," Carroll told reporters. "She was in it. She was competing and she wanted to know about who you may be trading for, and the whole thing, she was on it. So she's really amazing."

4:33 p.m.

The Bears take Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon, meaning the Seahawks are back on the clock. A decision is made that the Seahawks will not do any of the proposed deals to move back.

"We're not moving back, we're taking two good players here," Schneider says.

Says Carroll, "Mafe's going to be a (expletive) blast."

4:35 p.m.

While there is no hesitation on taking Mafe, there is some discussion about the next pick. The decision is down to Walker, college football's top running back last year, and an offensive lineman.

"Somebody go get Shane (Waldron)," Carroll says, wanting to bring his offensive coordinator into the discussion. While coaches come in and out of the room throughout the draft, they aren't there the whole time, but are always available nearby in their offices.

4:38 p.m.

In the back of the room, Schneider goofs off with some assistant coaches who have come into the room.

"What's up dudes?" he playfully asks. "I wish I got to be on the sidelines during games like you guys."

Even in the middle of making back-to-back picks that could help determine the future of the franchise, Schneider is as loose as can be.

4:41 p.m.

The Mafe pick is official, and Schneider and Carroll make the call to their new pass-rusher.

"You want to come back out to Seattle, man?" Schneider says. "You had a great visit here."

"It was a great visit, I'd love to come back out there," Mafe responds.

"This is a really exciting time for us," Carroll says. "This is a great place to come and you're going to do a great job for us. We're going to ask you do to a lot of stuff now. You're going be rushing the passer, you're going to be covering some people, you're going to be on special teams everywhere, all of that. We need you to do all of that that you're capable of."

Defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt tells Mafe he and the Seahawks are "a match made in heaven."

4:45 p.m.

After a bit more discussion, a decision is made, the Seahawks are taking Walker. One small problem though—his phone is going straight to voicemail. After a bit of a scramble and multiple people making multiple calls to different numbers, the Seahawks reach Walker just in time to turn in the pick.

"I love watching you run the rock, bud," Schneider tells Walker. "Can't wait to watch you run it up here in Seattle… I'm glad you picked up your phone."

4:47 p.m.

Running game coordinator/running backs coach Chad Morton lets out a joyous yell that is arguably the loudest noise made in this room over the past two days.

Morton likes the pick.

6:45 p.m.

With the seventh pick of the third round, No. 71 overall, the Bears take Tennessee receiver Velus Jones Jr. A loud cheer goes up in the room, because the Seahawks are back on the clock and are thrilled that Abraham Lucas is still there, high up on their draft board.

With Graff literally standing on the table, the Seahawks pick his guy, and Schneider can't resist having a little fun with Lucas when he reaches the big WSU tackle.

"John Schneider with the Seahawks," Schneider says. "Hey, we have the 109th pick in the fourth round…"

"OK," Lucas says, sounding confused.

"But we're going to take you right now, buddy!" Schneider continues. "Congratulations my man. Get in that car and come on over and kick some ass."

With the selection of Lucas, the Seahawks finished up a two-day stretch in which they added four players they're expecting to be big parts of their future.

Graff climbed off his table and the Seahawks watched the rest of the third round, getting ready for a Saturday in which they'd add five more players. Only time will tell how successful this 2022 draft was for the Seahawks, but the excitement level in the draft room was high.

"I think we balanced it out, and we attacked some needs," Carroll said after the end of the seventh round. "The tackle spot, that was a big deal, and were really fortunate that that worked out like that. Really fortunate. We had two really good guys to go for and upgrade the challenge and competition at those spots. I don't know who's going to start, but I know those guys are going to be challenged by the new guys coming in. It feels like we had some spots, and we didn't just get a guy, we got a couple of guys who can help us. As we continue to push to make it competitive, it makes us better. That's what I think we feel coming out of there. We got that done."