The Seattle Seahawks will not be placing the franchise or transition tags on running back Kenneth Walker, reported ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on Tuesday. He reported this as "breaking news," but the truth was always far clearer to 12s.
Seahawks fans knew general manager John Schneider wasn't going to tag anyone. He has only placed the franchise tag on two players. One was, oddly, kicker Olindo Mare in Schneider's first year with the team, 2010. The other was in 2019 when the team had worked out a tag-and-trade deal with the Kansas City Chiefs for Frank Clark.
If anything, had the Seahawks tagged Walker or any other player, that would have been more surprising. The team isn't going to overpay for any player, but also isn't going to stop a player from seeking as much money as possible in free agency.
Adam Schefter's breaking news on Seattle Seahawks' Kenneth Walker isn't anything new
Walker is a hot name right now. He is coming off the best season of his four-year career, stayed healthy for a full season for the first time, and was the Super Bowl LX MVP. After backup Zach Charbonnet was lost to a torn ACL in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, Walker had to get almost all the running back reps. He was at his best.
Running back is arguably the most undervalued position in the sport. While players at the position have a shorter playing life due to the amount of punishment they take on a yearly basis, a team that cannot run the ball effectively is extremely unlikely to be able to win a championship.
Quarterback Sam Darnold didn't have to always be a peak efficiency late in the season and the playoffs, as Walker was at times the focal point of former offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's offense. The hope is that Walker will be that under new OC Brian Fleury, too, but the Seattle Seahawks might be outbid by a team in desperate need of a top running back.
That amount on an annual basis could exceed what the franchise tag would have cost Seattle for Walker: $14,293,000. Maybe he won't make that much, and John Schneider can re-sign the running back for less than the tag. That's the hope.
Still, Kenneth Walker's hitting free agency was expected, and when Adam Schefter tweeted on Tuesday, "(The) Seattle Seahawks are not expected to tag Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III," with an image of Walker underscored with "Breaking News," most Seattle fans likely had a good chuckle. There was nothing "breaking" about something that's been known for months.