The Seattle Seahawks got the best out of Kenneth Walker III in 2026. The running back helped the team get its second Super Bowl title while staying healthy for an entire season for the first time in his career. That's why the Kansas City Chiefs should be concerned.
Walker left this offseason in free agency and signed with KC for three years and as much as $43.05 million. According to Over the Cap, $28.7 million of that is guaranteed, so nearly $10 million a season on average.
Obviously, what the Chiefs are hoping for is that they can revamp their offense by improving their rushing attack, which will also help quarterback Patrick Mahomes get back to playing his best football. In recent seasons, his overall production has decreased as he has had to, at times, carry the Kansas City offense.
Kansas City Chiefs fans might learn a brutal truth about former Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker
But as all Seattle fans know, as great as Walker can be, he also can struggle to stay on the field. Maybe he has learned better how to play with injuries, and he learned that before last season, which will help him for the rest of his career, but he needs to prove that for the Chiefs.
After missing two games in each of his first two seasons, he missed six in his third year. Moreover, while he played the best football of his career late in the season for the Seahawks, especially after fellow running back Zach Charbonnet was injured early in the playoffs, Walker had seen his efficiency decrease in years two and three.
After averaging 4.6 yards per carry as a rookie in 2022, that number reduced to 4.1 in 2023, 3.7 in 2024, before rebounding to 4.6 in 2025. His rushing touchdowns also decreased each season: nine in 2022, eight in 2023, seven in 2024, and even while his raw statistics improved overall in 2025, he rushed for just five TDs.
Kenneth Walker wasn't a bad person with the Seattle Seahawks, of course. 12s likely hope he does well with Kansas City, as long as the Chiefs aren't playing head coach Mike Macdonald's team. The hope is that he plays well enough to earn his new contract, and then makes even more when he's due for a new deal in 2029.
But there should also be a buyer-beware warning given to the Kansas City Chiefs. If the expectation is that Walker will get the ball more and his production will increase because of it, there is also a huge risk that he will be more prone to being injured. Maybe his health in 2026 won't be a fluke, but him not missing any games in the coming seasons would be exceedingly rare.
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