When it came to his Seattle Seahawks career, Kenneth Walker III saved his best for last.
The explosive running back gained a career-high 1,309 yards from scrimmage to push the Seahawks to the NFC's top seed in the 2026 NFL playoffs. His three-touchdown performance in the Divisional Round sparked a rout over the San Francisco 49ers
. His 161 total yards against the New England Patriots earned him Super Bowl MVP honors.It also earned him a significant pay raise. One that was too expensive for Seattle to afford.
Walker joined the Kansas City Chiefs in the offseason, signing a three-year, $43 million contract with $28.7 million guaranteed. That made him, in terms of average salary, the ninth-highest paid tailback in the NFL.
Why didn't the Seahawks beat Kansas City's offer for Kenneth Walker III?
In short, because they
needed to save money. Seattle has spent lavishly to keep its core intact. Over the last year-plus, the Seahawks have awarded more than $600 million worth of contract value to retain key players like Leonard Williams, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon. In a league with a hard salary cap,that's destined to create some tough decisions.
Running back is one of the easier positions to find inexpensive contributors. Indeed, while Walker will make more than $14 million per year in his new contract, Jadarian Price -- the runner Seattle selected with the final pick of the first round in the 2026 NFL Draft -- will make about $16.8 million over his first four seasons. The Seahawks would have preferred to keep Walker. The financials didn't work out, and instead he got a well-deserved raise to move to Kansas City instead.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why didn't the Seahawks keep Kenneth Walker III?
