Seahawks trade acquisition Quenton Nelson sidelined after surgery

Seattle Seahawks guard Quenton Nelson. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Seahawks trade acquisition Quenton Nelson sidelined after surgery

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Nov 6, 2026 5:23 PM ET

The Seattle Seahawks pulled off one of the NFL's biggest trades of the season nearly two weeks ago when they acquired guard Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts.

They saw him in action for just one game before losing him to an injury.

Seahawks G Quenton Nelson out week-to-week

Nelson showed up on the Seahawks injury report on Thursday with a knee injury, and it is actually a little worse than something that is just going to keep him out of practice.

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald announced on Friday that Nelson is undergoing a "minor procedure" and will be sidelined on a week-to-week basis. That means he will miss Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals.

The good news to come out of it? It does not appear to be a long-term injury, and the Seahawks will not be placing him on IR at this time

Mike Macdonald says Quenton Nelson will be out this week. pic.twitter.com/NLX1jsczhn
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) November 6, 2026

MacDonald said that the Seahawks were aware of Nelson dealing with something when they acquired him, and after doing some imaging, they found that he re-aggravated it and that it was probably in the best interest of everybody to just take care of that right now.

It remains to be seen how long Nelson will be out, but their next two games are against the Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders. While no game in the NFL is an automatic win (with the Cardinals and Raiders both being competitive this season) those are games where the Seahawks should be favored with or without Nelson in the lineup.

Now they just have to play the waiting game to see how long they will be without their new star lineman.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

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