John Schneider has not been subtle about what the Seattle Seahawks want to do at No. 32.
As Schneider recently put it, it is “no secret” the Seahawks are looking to trade back because they have only four picks. That makes sense on the surface. Seattle needs more swings in this draft, and moving down from the final pick of the first round is one of the clearest ways to add capital. But NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah also pointed to the catch: the farther Seattle moves back, the greater the chance it could slide out of range for one of the few running backs he views as worth the spot.
That is what makes Seattle’s trade-back plan more complicated than a simple value play.
John Schneider Has Already Made Seattle’s Draft Goal Clear
Jeremiah, speaking about possible Seahawks scenarios, said he could see Seattle making a more significant drop than some mock drafts project. He cited one example in which the Seahawks moved from No. 32 to No. 45, while also moving up from No. 96 to No. 80 and adding pick No. 115. From a pure draft-pick standpoint, that kind of move would give Schneider exactly what he has been signaling he wants: more flexibility and more total selections.
For a front office entering the draft with only four picks, that logic is easy to understand. The Seahawks do not need to force a move just to say they traded back, but they clearly want more than one chance to help the roster.
The Real Risk Is Falling Out of Seattle’s Running Back Tier
The issue is what Seattle might be leaving on the board.
Jeremiah said he still believes the Seahawks could find worthwhile cornerback and edge options if they move farther down. He mentioned that there would still be “really good players” available in those position groups later in the second-round range. But he drew a clearer line at running back, saying that if Seattle is “dead set” on Price, he would be “a little bit nervous” about dropping too far because that move could cost the team its shot.
That is the part of the trade-back conversation that matters most. A lot of draft coverage stops at the easy takeaway: Seattle wants to move back. The more useful question is how far the Seahawks can realistically go before the board stops working for them.
Daniel Jeremiah’s Latest Take Sharpens Seattle’s Decision
Jeremiah’s answer was not that Seattle should avoid a trade-down entirely. It was that the trade has to match the tier of player the Seahawks would be giving up.
He reinforced that later when he was asked what Seattle should do if it cannot trade out of No. 32 and has to choose between similarly graded players. Jeremiah said he would take Price, explaining that he has Price and a cornerback prospect stacked almost next to each other on his board, but would lean running back because of Seattle’s roster need. He also argued the running back class falls off sharply after the top options, which makes the position harder to address later than usual.
That does not mean the Seahawks should abandon the trade-back plan. It means Schneider’s best outcome may be a modest move, not a deep slide.
If Seattle can move down a handful of spots and still stay in range for the same cluster of players, that is an easy case to make. If the Seahawks start talking about a much bigger drop, the equation changes. At that point, the extra picks may be useful, but they also may come at the cost of the exact kind of player Jeremiah believes could help Seattle most.
For a team entering the draft with only four picks, trading back is logical. The risk is that logic only holds if the Seahawks do not move so far that they talk themselves out of the board they actually need.
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