The Seattle Seahawks’ decision to let Kenneth Walker III leave in free agency has been one of the most debated moves of their offseason. With the former Super Bowl MVP thriving with the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle struggling to establish a consistent running game, the conversation has often centered on the team’s decision to retain Rashid Shaheed rather than bring Walker back. But according to a new report, that debate might have been built on the wrong premise: the Seahawks never even made Walker a contract
offer.
In a report for The Athletic, Mike Dugar revealed that Seattle did not engage in serious discussions about bringing Walker back before free agency.
There were no serious discussions — on that day or any other — about Walker returning to the team that used a second-round draft pick on him in 2022. Walker’s postseason performance put him in such high demand that he effectively priced himself out of Seattle, which didn’t make a contract offer ahead of free agency, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
That revelation changes the context surrounding one of general manager John Schneider’s most scrutinized offseason decisions. Rather than a straightforward choice between paying Walker and investing in Shaheed, the report suggests Seattle never formally attempted to retain its starting running back.
The Seahawks never made an offer to their Super Bowl MVP
Walker’s departure was not entirely unexpected for the RB. The fourth-year running back had just completed a postseason run that transformed his standing around the league, finishing with 135 rushing yards in Seattle’s Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots and earning MVP honors.
His regular-season production was great, too. Walker rushed for 1,027 yards in 2025, although his role was shared with Zach Charbonnet, who scored 12 rushing touchdowns compared to Walker’s five. When Charbonnet suffered a torn ACL during the divisional-round win over the San Francisco 49ers, Walker became Seattle’s primary option and delivered 313 rushing yards and four touchdowns across the team’s final three playoff games.
That performance helped establish his value heading into free agency. The Chiefs ultimately signed Walker to a three-year, $43 million contract, making him one of the highest-paid running backs in the NFL.
Walker had already suggested that he knew his time in Seattle was coming to an end. Speaking to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk in May, he explained that he had realized during the season that a return was unlikely.
“Things ain’t work out how I was expecting it to, and that’s all right,” Walker said. “It worked out for the team. But yeah, (I knew) sometime during the season, and then we get to free agency, you pretty much know you weren’t going to be there.”
The report also revisits the awkward moment during Seattle’s Super Bowl celebration when Schneider joked that Walker had tried negotiating a contract with him moments before taking the stage. Walker subsequently denied that account on Instagram, and Schneider later described the incident as a “panic moment.”
As Dugar’s reporting now makes clear, there were no serious contract negotiations behind the joke.
Kenneth Walker gets his chance to remind Seattle what it lost
The timing of Dugar’s report could hardly be more significant. On Sunday, Walker will return to Lumen Field for the first time as an opponent when the Seahawks host the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football.
His first season in Kansas City has been spectacular. Walker has rushed for 665 yards and six touchdowns in five games, leading the NFL in rushing yards at the time of Dugar’s report. He has also helped transform the Chiefs’ ground game into one of the league’s most productive units, giving Patrick Mahomes another way to punish defenses that focus too heavily on the passing attack.
Seattle, meanwhile, has struggled to find that same balance. Its running backs have combined for 539 yards and three touchdowns, according to The Athletic, despite Walker producing more yardage individually while playing one fewer game. Injuries have contributed to the problem, including a chest issue that sent rookie Jadarian Price to injured reserve, but the contrast remains striking.
The matchup will also present a major test for Seattle’s defense. The Seahawks have established themselves as one of the league’s strongest units against the run, and they will attempt to contain a player who knows the organization, its personnel and its home stadium intimately. Walker enters the game averaging 133 rushing yards per contest, making him a formidable challenge for a defense that has not allowed an opposing running back to reach 100 rushing yards since Week 8 of the 2024 season.
For Walker, Sunday is an opportunity to demonstrate just how much his role has changed. In Seattle, he shared opportunities with Charbonnet and never received a contract offer that would have kept him with the franchise. In Kansas City, he has become a central piece of an offense built to maximize his explosive running ability.
For the Seahawks, the reunion will bring renewed attention to a decision that looked increasingly questionable as the season progressed.
That makes Sunday’s matchup more than a reunion with a former player. It is a chance for Walker to show Seattle what it is missing — and for the Seahawks to confront the consequences of an offseason decision that, according to the latest report, was made without even putting a contract offer on the table.
