Kenneth Walker III’s move to Kansas City came with a price tag Seattle wasn’t willing to meet, but Patrick Mahomes is already making a very loud case that the Chiefs got more than a running back.
Mahomes didn’t just praise Walker in passing. He went all in, calling the former Seahawks back “one of the best football players I've ever been around,” and adding, “He's a great leader on and off the field, too...
He's a great football player. He learns fast.
He helps out the guys around him, and I'm sure he'll make everybody else's job a lot easier.”
That kind of endorsement lands differently when it comes from a quarterback with three Super Bowl rings and a long list of elite teammates. It also paints a far more glowing picture of Walker than the one Seattle fans saw at times during his run with the Seahawks.
Walker’s time in Seattle had its ups and downs. He was talented, explosive, and capable of taking over games, but he also had stretches where availability and consistency were issues.
He missed two games in each of his first two seasons, then six games in his third year. That same season, his yards per carry dipped to 3.7.
Still, the final chapter in Seattle may have softened the memory of those earlier issues. Walker did not miss any games in 2025, his first full season of participation, and he looked like a back who could handle a bigger workload. That showed up most clearly after Zach Charbonnet was injured early in the playoffs, when Walker had to shoulder more of the offense and proved he could do it.
The Chiefs are betting that version of Walker is the real one. Kansas City signed him in free agency this offseason on a three-year deal worth as much as $45 million, with $28.7 million guaranteed.
Seattle general manager John Schneider wasn’t going to go that high, even if he may have wanted to keep him. At nearly $12 million per season, the number was simply too steep.
Mahomes’ praise also hints at what Kansas City believes it’s getting beyond the box score. In his view, Walker is a quick learner who lifts the people around him.
That’s a strong sales pitch, especially for a player who wasn’t known as a vocal locker-room leader in Seattle. He was quieter than communicative, which was never a problem, just a different kind of presence than someone like linebacker Ernest Jones Jr.
The bigger question now is whether Walker can deliver that same level over the full length of his new deal. Can he stay healthy? Can he avoid the hesitation before attacking the line of scrimmage that Klint Kubiak seemed to coach out of him last season?
Those are the concerns Kansas City has to live with. But in Seattle, the feeling is likely simpler. Walker was a good guy in the room, he helped the Seahawks win a Super Bowl, and that’s how plenty of fans will remember him.
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