Kenneth Walker III has been a major part of the Seattle Seahawks’ offense during his career with the franchise. The star running back has helped them to win the NFC championship this year, but he is also a pending free agent.
Their general manager, John Schneider, provided an update on the situation as they prepare to take on the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl next week.
Kenneth Walker III Gets Free Agency Update From Seahawks GM John Schneider
Walker has appeared in every game for the Seahawks this year on their way to winning the conference title. He has stepped up in a major way during the NFL Playoffs with Zach Charbonnet suffering a season-ending injury. The two of them usually share the backfield workload, but Walker has been thrust into a workhorse role on their Super Bowl run.
His success comes amid his pending free agency, as his rookie contract will officially expire at the conclusion of the 2025 NFL season. This was one of the topics general manager John Schneider discussed when recently addressing the media. He made his intentions clear for the veteran running back in the upcoming offseason.
“Ken has been awesome. He’s explosive. I would say maybe a little bit more decisive in the last month and a half. He’s a free agent, but we’d love to have him back,” explained Schneider.
Walker has excelled in the postseason so far, with two victories that have led the Seahawks to the Super Bowl. He has totaled 38 carries for 178 yards and four touchdowns during those two games, helping to defeat two of their NFC West divisional rivals, the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, in the playoffs.
It has been a solid season for the veteran in general as he finished the year ranked 20th among all running backs in PFSN’s Impact Rankings. He exceeded 1,000 rushing yards and impressively did so with only about half of the backfield workload. He usually splits the carries near evenly with Charbonnet, who added another 730 rushing yards.
Their tandem of backs took a hit when Charbonnet went down with an ACL injury, but it hasn’t slowed down their rushing attack as a whole, with Walker carrying the majority of the load. It will be interesting to see whether this situation impacts his free agency after proving his value to the Seahawks, and their other primary option appears set for a lengthy recovery.
