Kenneth Walker III says he figured 2025 would be last with Seahawks

Given the debate over the value of the running back position, that the Seahawks were going to have some significant salary cap challenges in the years ahead and that Kenneth Walker III’s value only rose as the 2025 season progressed, it wasn’t a real surprise when he signed elsewhere once he hit free agency in March.

Walker wasn’t surprised either, as he revealed Monday in an interview on Pro Football Talk PM.

Walker said he got a feeling during the season that he was unlikely to be back with the Seahawks in 2026.

“I would say probably, if I’m being honest, probably like sometime during the season,” Walker said of when he began to understand he might not return to the Seahawks.

“You know, things ain’t working out how I was expecting to, and that’s all right. It worked out for the team. So sometime during the season and then we get to free agency, pretty much knowing, like, you weren’t gonna be there no more.”

Walker eventually signed a three-year deal worth up to $43.05 million with the Chiefs in the wake of winning MVP honors of the Super Bowl following the Seahawks’ 29-13 win over the New England Patriots.

That makes him the fourth-highest paid running back in the NFL this year in average salary per season.

Walker, whose four-year rookie contract expired at the end of the 2025 season, said last year during training camp he had not had talks with the team on an extension and intimated the same during a news conference the day after the Super Bowl, saying of questions about his future that, “I’ll look forward to that later on.”

It’s not thought the Seahawks had any substantive negotiations with Walker once it was clear the kind of offers he was going to get from other teams.

Walker changed agents during the season, hiring the Aura Sports Group, which was a sign he planned to maximize his first time hitting free agency.

Walker, who became the fourth Super Bowl MVP in history to sign with another team the following season, made $8.441 million during his four seasons with the Seahawks, but his new contract with the Chiefs includes more than that amount in guarantees alone at $28.7 million.

The Seahawks set other priorities such as re-signing receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba (to the biggest contract so far ever handed out to a non-quarterback in NFL history) and Rashid Shaheed, and are expected to re-sign cornerback Devon Witherspoon to a new deal before the season that could also make him the highest-paid player at his position in league history.

The Seahawks re-signed left tackle Charles Cross to an extension through the 2030 season, making him the third-highest paid player at his position.

The Seahawks also know they will likely have to give quarterback Sam Darnold an extension after the 2026 season, while rush end Derick Hall can also be a free agent following the 2026 season as can defensive lineman Leonard Williams. They may also want to give extensions next year to defensive tackle Byron Murphy II and tight end AJ Barner.

So, something had to give and that was Walker, with the Seahawks using their first-round pick on Jadarian Price of Notre Dame to replace him at running back.

Price will get a four-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $16.78 million, averaging less than a third per year of what Walker will make in Kansas City, a calculation that from the start went into the Seahawks’ decision-making plan on the running back position.

How well that works out for each team will become evident over the next few seasons.

But it’s clear the Seahawks simply set priorities at other positions and the upshot is Walker moving on.

“The team appreciates me over here and, like, being able to come somewhere there where you’re appreciated,” Walker said in the PFT PM interview of the Chiefs. “I definitely feel like I’ll be getting the ball a lot, be making plays and, yeah, I’m excited for this season.”

The 2026 season includes a chance for Walker to get some revenge on the Seahawks as Kansas City is among the teams that will make a trip to Seattle this year. The date will be revealed later this month when the NFL releases the full schedule for the 2026 season.

In an interview with Kay Adams on the Up & Adams Show this week, Walker seemed to indicate he may have some hard feelings toward some in the Seahawks organization when he was asked who he would and wouldn’t “dap up.”

“I would dap up all my teammates, but that’s about it,” said Walker, who came to Seattle as a second-round pick in 2022 and rushed for 3,555 yards in 58 games over four seasons, including 1,027 last season, with another 313 and four TDs in three playoff games.

Walker said in the same interview he plans to attend the ceremony when the Seahawks are presented with their rings in June.

“Yeah, I’m still going to go back because I love my old teammates,” Walker said. “That don’t mean I can’t talk to my boys back there. So I’m definitely going to try to make it out there in June.”