Kenneth Walker's Seahawks Split Detailed in New NFL Rumors Ahead of Revenge Game with Chiefs

The Seattle Seahawks' willingness to let Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III walk in free agency was tied to doubts regarding his injury history, ESPN's Nate Taylor and Brady Henderson reported Friday.

According to Taylor and Henderson, Seahawks "decision-makers had reservations about [Walker's] availability dating to his rookie season."

Because of those reservations, the Seahawks were "only willing to go as high as roughly $10 million per season to re-sign him in March," Taylor and Henderson reported.

The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar had previously reported the Seahawks never held "serious discussions" about re-signing Walker, and did not offer the running back a contract ahead of free agency.

Walker ultimately joined the Kansas City Chiefs on a three-year, $43.05 million contract featuring $28.7 million in guaranteed money.

That wasn't the first time the Seahawks had hesitated to commit to Walker going forward. Taylor and Henderson reported concerns regarding Walker's early-career injuries also contributed to the Seahawks drafting Zach Charbonnet in 2023 and a backfield split between Charbonnet and Walker last season.

After he was selected by the Seahawks in the second round of the 2022 draft, Walker missed multiple games in each of his first three NFL campaigns with injuries including a sports hernia as well as shoulder, ankle, oblique and calf issues.

He did not miss more than two games in a row over that span, although he sat out four of the last five games of the Seahawks' 2024 season.

Walker then appeared in all 17 games of a 2025 season during which he played a career-low 47 percent of Seattle's offensive snaps as Charbonnet took over some of his workload.

That has flipped in Kansas City despite Walker missing time during the preseason with foot and ankle issues . The running back has taken a career-high 75 percent of snaps through five games while racking up an NFL-high 665 rushing yards on 106 carries.

The Seahawks, on the other hand, have been unable to replace Walker's production with Charbonnet on the PUP list to start the season amid his recovery from a torn ACL. Seattle ranks 18th in the NFL in total rushing yards through Week 6.

Charbonnet has been activated and could make his season debut against the Chiefs, while Walker will look to prove to his former team he can thrive with a full workload when the Week 7 matchup kicks off Sunday at Lumen Field.