Part of the beauty of the way Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider does business is that one can never be too sure what he is thinking or how he will approach something. This is the case with Seattle's running back group in 2026.
The team lost starter Kenneth Walker in free agency to the Kansas City Chiefs, and the presumed RB1 next season, Zach Charbonnet, tore his ACL in the playoffs and could miss Week 1 and a few more games. The likely answer to who starts in Week 1 is not yet known.
Could it be a draft pick or possibly a trade for an established player like the Miami Dolphins' De'Von Achane? Randy Gurzi of Sports Illustrated's Seahawks site believes the answer may be the draft, or well...not.
Great idea for the Seattle Seahawks to acquire De'Von Achane is probably unlikely
Gurzi wrote recently that Seattle taking a running back in the first round "would still be preferable to trading for Achane since (the draft pick) can be a focal point of the offense for the next five seasons as a Round 1 selection. If (that doesn't happen), Achane could be a solid fallback plan to help them chase a second consecutive Lombardi Trophy."
He's not wrong, of course. At least, not in total. The problem becomes what such a move does for the Dolphins, and the answer is not much. Achane doesn't have a high cap hit, so letting him go doesn't affect the team much financially. Losing him after the draft would mean the Dolphins have to wait a year before using the draft capital gained.
The Seattle Seahawks are in a better position to trade 2027 draft picks than those in 2026, though. This year, John Schneider's team only has four selections. With presumed comp picks, the Seahawks have 11 picks projected for next year. The whole wait-and-see scenario for Achane to Seattle only really makes sense for one team, and that isn't Miami.
Acquiring De'Von Achane would obviously be a boon to what the Seahawks want to do offensively, of course. He offers the same kind of explosiveness that Kenneth Walker did and might be the better player overall. Achane is also an excellent receiver out of the backfield.
If one is to believe the Miami Dolphins, however, Achane isn't going to be traded and is part of the team's plans moving forward. Maybe that is simply jostling for a better return in a trade, but if that return needs to be 2026 draft capital, the Seahawks don't have that to give.