The Kansas City Chiefs weren't going to let one down season turn into two. In case anyone needed reminding, Patrick Mahomes is still the best in the business and Andy Reid, along with Brett Veach, aren't going to allow for mediocrity to star reigning in Kansas City.
That's precisely why, within minutes of the league's legal tampering period opening up, the Chiefs agreed to sign free agent running back Kenneth Walker III, giving Mahomes a real, legitimate star at the running back position.
Walker's contract is reportedly going to be for three years and $43.05 million, with potential to become $45 million. He gets a whopping $28.7 million in guaranteed money, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
The Kansas City Chiefs aren't messing around as they bring in Kenneth Walker III with another Super Bowl on the mind
This year's Super Bowl MVP now joins tight end Travis Kelce in the early news, who is officially coming back to Kansas City as well.
When looking at Walker's reported contract details, it sends an unmistakable message to the rest of the NFL:
"Hope ya'll had fun without us in 2025."
Sure, Mahomes is coming back from the ACL tear, and it'll probably take long enough to where he misses some of the regular season in 2026. Maybe, he'll be back sooner. Right now, in early March, it's all speculation at this point.
But the point is, the Chiefs wouldn't be signing Walker to be the NFL's fifth-highest paid running back, on annual average, if they weren't going to go all-in on making it back to the league's biggest stage.
Kelce wouldn't be coming back just for kicks and giggles.
If you thought the Chiefs were going to focus on the more boring areas and not necessarily go after an explosive signing, think again. Walker brings exactly that to the offense: explosiveness.
This is a move that should terrify the rest of the NFL, and we're only in the beginning stages of free agency.
While with the Seattle Seahawks, we saw Walker put on some monstrous performances at times, but it wasn't until this year's postseason that he started to get the attention he deserved. In Seattle, he shared a lot of the workload with Zach Charbonnet. But, when Charbonnet went down with an injury late in the year, it was Walker's time to shine.
And shine is exactly what he did, as he led the NFL in postseason rush attempts (63), rush yards (313) and rushing touchdowns (4).
Make sure you tell your friends -- especially those Broncos folks -- that the Chiefs are officially back, and it's only March.