Trading for De'Von Achane is implausible

Seahawks would love Achane but he's the wrong Price

Seahawks fans went through this with quarterbacks in 2022, when Seattle was the team that most obviously didn’t have a starting quarterback so every single available quarterback was “guaranteed” to get interest from the Seahawks. Baker Mayfield, Deshaun Watson, Jimmy Garoppolo, etc. And every quarterback in a weak quarterback class too.

Who did Seattle end up choosing? The two guys they already had, Geno Smith and Drew Lock.

Now that the Seahawks are obviously the team without a starting running back, any available veteran or draft-able running back will be cited as a foregone target for Seattle. Before there was even a rumor that De’Von Achane is available, connections were made that the Seahawks “should trade their first round pick for him”.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter speculated that Miami could be opening to trading Achane following the Dolphins trading Jaylen Waddle to the Broncos:

“Could De’Von Achane be available for a certain amount of compensation? I’m sure the Dolphins would listen on anybody right now.”

On Wednesday, Schefter tweeted that the Dolphins aren’t trading Achane.

Of course, this could be a negotiation tactic. You don’t say “Yes” to the first offer. But in what world do the Seahawks decline the opportunity to keep Kenneth Walker III because of money and then trade a first or second round pick for a running back who will be demanding a contract $ even bigger than Walker’s?

Achane is a year younger than Walker and his 2025 season was better than any individual season by Walker. To be fair, Walker’s last six games were better than anything Walker had done before that and those were all high-stakes games/the Super Bowl.

Achane is also a better receiver and sure you could make the argument that Seattle would have franchised Achane if roles were reversed. But they’re not and sacrificing high draft picks when you’re already low on draft picks feels totally antithetical to the John Schneider roster-building model.

And speaking of Schneider, what interest has he shown in running backs since Pete Carroll was fired? Practically none.

No draft picks yet. Didn’t re-sign Walker. Didn’t show interest in any free agents bigger than Emanuel Wilson.

Is this keeping the spot open for Achane or are people reading into the lack of moves because they are afraid of what would happen without an established running back? That’s what a lot of fans did with quarterbacks in 2022 and look what happened.

Geno Smith outlasted Baker’s Carolina stint, Watson, and Jimmy G.

Trading picks for Achane and extending a running back? I don’t see it right now. A lack of something is not evidence that something is coming.

Here are the rest of this week’s Super Joes Q&A answers. If you want to share your question next week, upgrade to Super Joes by clicking here:

Dewhub: It seems to me that JS has been building a full roster prior to the draft in order to take the best player available. This trend started when he changed his draft strategy a few years ago. Do you see the same pattern?

• Since 2022, the Seahawks have picked 5 players in the top-20: Cross, Witherspoon, JSN, Murphy, and Zabel.

• From 2013-2021, the Seahawks picked 0 players in the top-20.

If you went back 5 top-20 starting from Bruce Irvin in 2012, you’d reach Marcus Trufant in 2003. That means that Seattle has picked as many top-20 prospects in the past four years as they picked from 2003-2021.

So for me the “Why are the Seahawks drafting better now?” question can simply be answered with draft capital and little else.

This is further confirmed by the realization that Seattle’s other picks since 2022 are at best “relatively good values” and at worst Christian Haynes, with a couple of exceptions like Abe Lucas and A.J. Barner. That’s not meant as a diss, it’s the reality of most prospects who aren’t given “first round grades”.

Therefore when a franchise lands those top-20 picks, they best not miss. Cross and Zabel were rather obvious fits for positions not addressed in free agency. Witherspoon, JSN, and Murphy had great arguments for being the safest picks at those points; I mocked Witherspoon to the Seahawks at 5 but I didn’t expect JSN and Murphy to get anywhere near picks 20 and 16.

Some writers out there pushing “quarterback, quarterback, must draft quarterback” every single year, I was never convinced that the Seahawks were ever going to do that. It’s not what they do and the prospects weren’t even good.

There’s not much standing out to me as a draft strategy change-up in the past few years, just more valuable picks. Until now. And yes, getting Nick Emmanwori at 35 is a great counter-point, which is hopefully how Seattle’s first pick goes this year, but we can’t hold the same expectations for that player as we had for the last five first rounders.

But maybe I’m wrong, what do you all think?

Scott M: Would trading up in the first round this year (by using next year’s draft capital) make any sense?

That would surprise me. Schneider is more likely to take advantage of another team’s desperation for a prospect than he is to put multiple eggs into a single prospect. And a theoretical trade like “this year’s first and next year’s second” would not move the needle by much because teams are going to see that as Pick 64 in 2027, which is similar to saying Pick 96 in 2026.

That might not get Schneider much higher than 32 and then Seattle wouldn’t have a second round pick in 2027.

And if they offered a 4th round pick next year or something, that’s almost nothing. It’s a few spots up. I’d be less surprised if Schneider traded a 2027 fourth round pick to get a 2026 fifth round pick. That’s more likely.

Schneider is the type of GM to just wait and see if the player falls to him if it’s only going to be a few spots. The exceptions when he’s traded up like Emmanwori or Tyler Lockett or DK Metcalf, he’s always packaged 2-3 picks that year to go get his guy. As you’re alluding to, the Seahawks don’t have the capital for that now.

Upcoming rookie prospects are almost always overrated. There’s nothing that fans love more than “unnamed rookie” but GMs are typically more realistic about those contributions. Seattle’s got a Super Bowl caliber roster again, I would be shocked if Schneider is anxious about getting anyone in this class.

If he really wants running back Jadarian Price (for example) and he’s there at 25 and Schneider’s intel is that he isn’t going to get to 32, maybe then he starts tallying picks, calculating the cost, and then perhaps that’s when I’m proven wrong and he’s able to shift some of next year’s capital to this year.

Jadarian Price is a well-rounded and versatile running back prospect.

He has solid quickness, agility, speed, contact balance, and play strength, all of which show up throughout his game. He has good vision behind the line of scrimmage, consistently anticipating defenders at the first and second level. He does a good job of running with patience behind the line of scrimmage to give his blocks time to mature, as well as using his pathing to set up defenders and create opportunities for cuts. He understands how to use his path behind the line of scrimmage, as well as quick fakes, to influence defenders before making his cuts.

Between trading for Achane or moving up a few spots for Price, I think the cost of Price is a better investment.

Gavin: Who are the Rams losing in FA and retirement? I feel like a lot of Seahawks fans have been getting upset at losing certain players, and afraid of how they will fill those spots. It occurred to me to wonder if the same thing is going on in the Rams world.

Grant: The Rams appear to be pushing their chips all in and are favorites to win the NFC West and Super Bowl over the Seahawks once again. If you were to write a "what could go wrong" article for them, what would be your top three points?

To Gavin’s question, right tackle Rob Havenstein and cornerback Darious Williams both retired. Neither of them had anything left to give last season so they aren’t losses. They parted with receiver Tutu Atwell and corner Cobie Durant but again not players who they’ll miss at all.

So those positions are probably all upgrades or lateral moves. Of course trading for Trent McDuffie is considered a huge upgrade at corner: This is not necessarily the same thing as saying that I think the Rams are going to be better next season. Therefore, 3 things that could go wrong?

#1 - Matthew Stafford is 38

The MVP season thing is a tad overblown. Stafford won MVP because of how many times Sean McVay called a goal-line pass to Davante Adams instead of a higher-percentage running play for Kyren Williams. That doesn’t mean that Stafford wasn’t deserving of MVP but his TD:INT ratio was inflated.

On top of that, Stafford’s completion rate took a huge nose dive in December and he was actually below 60% in the six games prior to facing Seattle in the NFC Championship game.

Look, the way that Stafford played against the NFL’s best defense last year was phenomenal and he had to do it three times. But he’s 38 and I’m still not sure how he managed to get through 20 games without missing any time…and from what I saw the offense was far less potent by December and January.

#2 - Puka Nacua and Davante Adams concerns

Puka is more important to the Rams than JSN is to the Seahawks and JSN is really important. I’m only saying that to emphasize how badly Stafford and McVay need Puka, which should concern some people because Puka is such a wild card.

Aside from his constant off-field appearances and seemingly craving celebrity status, Puka’s play style puts him in harm’s way on a weekly basis. As a fan of great football players I do worry about his long-term career prospects.

Adams, I don’t get how he just got paid a $6 million roster bonus. He’s 33 now. He wasn’t very good outside of the 10-yard line.

The Rams are widely expected to draft a WR at 13, but someone like Makai Lemon is practically a body double for Puka. How do they address this need and do they even see it as a need? I see it as a need.

#3 - The “young defense” is older than most think

L.A.’s been building their defensive line over the last three drafts which would make you think that they’re all young but they aren’t: OLB Byron Young is 28, EDGE Jared Verse is 26, NT Kobie Turner is 27, and DE Braden Fiske is 26.

Those are their top 4 defensive linemen and two of them (Young, Turner) are extension eligible. Verse is a bit overrated to me. The Rams drafted “help us now” players because they couldn’t afford veterans and that worked out the past couple of years but it’s not a great long-term move. How much better can a guy get at 26-28?

Usually not that much better.

I think they paid McDuffie ($31 million per year) like he’s elite when he’s only very good. I expect the Rams to have a defense ranked somewhere 8th-16th, which might be fine if the offense is ranked 1st-3rd (basically what L.A. did last season) but I’m not sure that either side of the ball could carry the Rams to the Super Bowl.

If the Rams slide back a little bit on offense—regression means that they almost certainly will—the defense needs to be better. I see why people love the McDuffie trade, but I think they’re overlooking the potential holes that L.A. has in the front-7 (including a really questionable linebackers unit).

Bret: I’ve read justifications for not chasing the market, but are we as fans wrong for worrying that we might have been too passive? I share the sentiment expressed by ChipMac--that we seem to be hoarding comp picks. I hope the choice pays off. Does the Seahawks’ inaction reflect the organization’s view of the free agent market and upcoming draft class?

There wasn’t a single free agent out there who seemed like a missed opportunity for Seattle. I can’t say it enough times, the first wave of free agency is a major major red herring.

It’s winning headlines in March instead of trying to win the Super Bowl in February. 97% of the players who signed in the last week were available for reasons that people tend to overlooked because of “stats” or “draft pedigree” or “he flashed…”.

If you get an exception like Uchenna Nwosu (a reasonable two-year deal in 2022) that’s still one example out of 100 disappointing signings. And even Nwosu ended up missing 66% of the games from 2023-2024.

Ray: Hey Joe, how’s your life going?

Seriously, I’d be interested to know a little more about how many hours a day you spend researching these articles, and how many more you spend writing them? How many other irons do you have in the fire?

Here’s a question you may feel comfortable answering on a public forum: How fast do you type?

I couldn’t give you an exact number but it’s a few hours or so and by now I work as efficiently as possible thanks to reps. I have always struggled with brevity and I could stand to trust that there’s enough meat on the bone rather than over-explain.

Maybe you’d all have suggestions on what you’d like to see more or less of:

Despite all that practice I’m actually not the fastest typist. I just did a test and I got 79 WPM. Seaside Jay is faster. How about yourself?

Life is good. Since I started non-negotiable daily habits and this newsletter seven years ago, I couldn’t have written a better life. How are you?

Ryan: It feels that we are quickly entering the calm of the offseason before the storm of the NFL draft, so from one survivor super fan to another, I’ll ask for your prediction on who wins season 50?

First of all, thank you for bravely stepping up to share your love of Survivor along with me. We are a small subset of fans (I know a lot of Survivor players are from Seattle and probably Seahawks fans, where you at Kelley Wentworth?) so I am grateful for anyone who wants to talk Surv with me.

I’m so afraid of spoilers, forgive me for giving you an ambiguous answer.

I think the two players you mentioned to me are good choices, especially the one from DvG. That player is dominating the early portion of the game but will have a big target and there’s a lot of game left. It’s difficult for me to separate the players I’m rooting for and the ones who I actually think can win. I’m getting a winner’s edit vibe from the new era player who “saved Coach’s life”.

But I’m not a great person to ask because my pre-season winner pick was voted out last week.

Seaside Joe 2570