Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III Signs With Kansas City Chiefs in Historic Free Agency Deal
Kenneth Walker III is heading to Kansas City.
The Super Bowl LX MVP agreed to a three-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported. The contract carries a base value of $43.05 million, a max value of $45 million, and $28.7 million fully guaranteed, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The deal was negotiated by agents David Canter and Ness Mugrabi of Aura Sports Group.
It is the largest contract ever given to a running back in NFL free agency. And for a player who just carried a Seattle Seahawks offense to a Super Bowl title, it may be exactly what Walker always believed he was worth.
Walker confirmed the signing himself on social media shortly after the report broke, posting “Chiefs Kingdom” alongside a Chiefs logo.
A Postseason Run That Changed Everything
Walker’s road to this moment was not a straight line. He rushed for career-highs of 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie in 2022, then watched his numbers dip in each of the following two seasons. Injuries limited him to just 11 games in 2024, when he managed only 573 rushing yards. For a running back trying to command top-tier money, those were not the kinds of numbers that inspire bidding wars.
But Walker, 25, had other plans.
In 2025, he rushed for 1,027 yards on 4.6 yards per carry during the regular season, splitting carries with Zach Charbonnet as he had throughout his time in Seattle. It was a solid but unspectacular year on paper. Then the playoffs arrived, and Walker became something else entirely.
When Charbonnet went down with a season-ending injury in the Divisional Round, Walker stepped into the role of workhorse and never looked back. He carried the ball 65 times for 313 yards and four touchdowns across three postseason games, including a dominant 116-yard, three-touchdown performance against the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
Then came the Super Bowl.
Walker ran 27 times for 135 yards in Seattle’s 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots, willing the Seahawks’ offense forward at every critical moment. When the final whistle blew, he walked off the field as Super Bowl LX’s Most Valuable Player. The bargaining chips, as Seahawks general manager John Schneider jokingly acknowledged at the team’s victory parade, had just gotten a whole lot stronger.
Seattle Steps Back, Kansas City Steps In
The Seahawks faced a real decision after the Super Bowl. They held the option to place the franchise tag on Walker, a one-year deal worth $14.3 million. They chose not to. That call opened the door to free agency and, as it turned out, to Kansas City.
Walker had no shortage of suitors. He ranked sixth overall and first among running backs on FOX Sports’ top 100 free agents list heading into the offseason. The New York Giants were among the teams with reported interest. But in the end, it was the Chiefs who made the most compelling offer, and Walker who decided that Kansas City was his next chapter.
What Walker Brings to a Chiefs Team That Needs Him
The timing of this signing could hardly be more significant for Kansas City. The Chiefs ranked among the weaker rushing teams in the league this past season. Their top two ball carriers, Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, both averaged fewer than four yards per carry. Both became free agents on Monday.
That is a running back room that needed rebuilding from the ground up, and the Chiefs addressed it in the boldest way possible.
Walker averaged 4.6 yards per carry during the regular season and 4.8 during the playoffs. He is a proven three-down back who can shoulder a full workload when called upon, something Kansas City has desperately lacked. He adds another dimension to an offense built around Patrick Mahomes, giving the Chiefs a credible ground threat that opposing defenses will have to respect on every snap.
What This Means for the 2026 Season
The Chiefs have returned to the Super Bowl repeatedly over the past decade, but their path there this past season was complicated by an inability to consistently run the football. Walker addresses that problem directly. He is not a luxury signing. He is a need.
For Walker, the move represents a chance to prove that his Super Bowl performance was not a one-time showcase but a preview of what he is capable of doing as a featured back. In Seattle, he always shared carries. In Kansas City, the expectation is different.
He signed the largest free agency contract in running back history to be that guy. Now, for the first time in his career, he gets to find out if he truly is.
