Kenneth Walker III
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SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 08: Kenneth Walker III #9 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the New England Patriots 29-13 to win Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium on February 08, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Coming off a victory in Super Bowl LX, the Seattle Seahawks are turning the page to 2026. With the NFL Scouting Combine this week, when coaches, executives, scouts, agents, media, prospects, and fans all descend upon Indianapolis for a time, it marks the unofficial start of the 2026 league year. So much about free agency, contract extensions, draft choices, and more are made in this time.
The Seahawks have a few internal free agents to make decisions on, but none loom larger than reigning Super Bowl MVP RB Kenneth Walker III. After a strong regular season in which he had 1,027 rushing yards and five touchdowns along with 31 receptions for 282 yards, Walker exploded in the playoffs for Seattle. In just three games, he had 313 rushing yards and four touchdowns, adding nine receptions for 104 yards.
Walker’s performance in the playoffs earned him a big payday. The only question now is where he’ll earn it. The Seahawks certainly want him back, but they have other young studs now extension-eligible — most notably 2023 draftees CB Devon Witherspoon and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Both Witherspoon and Smith-Njigba are franchise cornerstones who are foundational pieces on their respective sides of the ball, and the Seahawks can ill afford to lose either.
It remains to be seen if there will be money left over for the Seahawks to keep Walker around, too.
Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider on RB Kenneth Walker III Ahead of Free Agency
Kenneth Walker III
GettySEATTLE, WASHINGTON – JANUARY 25: Kenneth Walker III #9 of the Seattle Seahawks runs with the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the first quarter in the NFC Championship game at Lumen Field on January 25, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
“Yeah, and a Super Bowl MVP,” Schneider said on Tuesday on Walker’s accolades in 2025. “I kinda lost at the — I got nervous talking in front of all those people the other day, and Ken’s like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I totally made that up, I just lost it,” he said, referring to a comment he made during the Lombardi Trophy ceremony when he joked about Walker trying to negotiate with him following his Super Bowl MVP performance.
“No, we’d love to have Ken back,” Schneider continued. “You know, it’s — and he knows this better than anybody — it’s about our 70 [players on the full roster, including practice squad]. Our collective, and what that’s gonna like. And we’ll have those meetings down here, we’ll start talking to all the agents and we’ll have a better feel for where we’re going here towards the end of the week.”
“But obviously, we want to have everybody back, y’know? Right when you get done with something special like [winning a Super Bowl] you wanna be, ‘Hey, let’s run it back, let’s run it back.’ It’s gonna be an interesting process.”
Will the Seattle Seahawks Use the Franchise Tag on Super Bowl MVP RB Kenneth Walker III?
That’s the big question beyond just if Seattle will extend Walker. Would the Seahawks consider using the franchise tag to keep him in town if a deal can’t be reached? Schneider wouldn’t say:
“That’s a good try, Bob,” Schneider said with a chuckle in response to a question on if the Seahawks would consider using the franchise tag on Walker. “I couldn’t hear you,” he joked.