It's not often that a player leaves a team in free agency right after winning Super Bowl MVP, but that's the rare club Kenneth Walker III joined recently after leaving the Seattle Seahawks behind to sign a three-year, $43.05 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.
It's not that the Seahawks didn't want Walker to return, but general manager John Schneider made it pretty clear at the NFL Scouting Combine that he was going to do what was in the best interest of the organization as a whole, which basically meant he wasn't going to get into any kind of bidding war, even with Zach Charbonnet possibly sidelined for the entire 2026 season after suffering a torn ACL in Seattle's Divisional Round win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Schneider recently opened up on Walker's departure, and he really doesn't sound very concerned at all about his running back situation.
“That’s a position that you can find guys,” Schneider said during his weekly appearance with Seattle Sports' Wyman and Bob. "And obviously, (Walker was) outstanding, and everybody’s really excited for him. I mean, that’s a great, great contract for a running back. But George [Holani] did a great job. We’re really excited about Emanuel Wilson, who we got from Green Bay, a heavy runner with really nice feet.”
Well, okay then. With Walker out the door and Charbonnet on the shelf for the foreseeable future, the Seahawks' RB room currently consists of the two players Schneider mentioned in Emanuel Wilson and George Holani, and the third-stringer is Kenny McIntosh. Between those three, you get a combined two starts, both of which came from Wilson this past season with the Packers when Josh Jacobs was out with an injury.
Seattle still has options in free agency and will undoubtedly go looking for a back in the draft, but for now, things don't look great alongside Sam Darnold in the backfield. The Chiefs, on the other hand, get a proven commodity and undoubtedly upgraded at the position.
It'll be interesting to see how Kenneth Walker III does with the Chiefs as a genuine RB1
Some have said that the Chiefs may have overpaid for a player who has only surpassed the 1,000-yard mark twice in four years (and not by much each time), but it's important to remember that Walker has never really been a genuine RB1 since his rookie season in 2022, when he rushed for 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns, barely losing the Offensive Rookie of the Year vote to New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson.
In the three seasons that followed, however, he was sharing the workload with Charbonnet. Sure, he was still getting more carries, but it wasn't by much, as he only averaged about 55 more rushes per season between the 2023, 2024, and 2025 campaigns. Break that down by game, and it obviously looks even closer.
That likely won't be the case in Kansas City. It's been a two-back system recently, but that's only because neither Kareem Hunt nor Isiah Pacheco could really handle the full workload. But Walker, who certainly showed what he can do when he's the guy, rushing for 313 yards and four touchdowns in the Seahawks' three playoff victories, should conceivably be able to handle all the work that's headed his way in the Chiefs' backfield.