If Kenneth Walker III had designs on extending his stay with the Seattle Seahawks beyond this season, his performance in the Super Bowl may have been the factor that decides it.
Seattle celebrated their second NFL Championship with a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium and Walker was one of the stars of the show.
Now that the final whistle has blown after Super Bowl LX, Walker is technically unemployed. The biggest game in football is also the final game of his rookie contract with the Seahawks.
Yet, it is almost impossible to fathom him leaving on such a high note. With 135 rushing yards and a further 26 from two receptions, he was the main threat on offense for Mike Macdonald after Jaxon Smith-Njigba suffered from a possible concussion during the game.
For four seasons, Seahawks general manager John Schneider has declined to extend the team’s lead running back beyond that initial deal.
Asked whether the organization has even approached him about a new contract, Walker was blunt. “Not that I know of,” Walker told TNT this week at the Super Bowl.
It was the same answer he gave last summer. “I feel like we’ve been more focused on the season and winning the Super Bowl,” Walker said.
A postseason résumé that changes everything
At just 25 years old, Walker is firmly in his physical prime. During the regular season, he rushed for 1,027 yards in 17 games despite sharing carries with Zach Charbonnet.
It marked the first time since the Seattle Seahawks selected him in the second round out of Michigan State in 2022 that he played every regular-season game. When the playoffs arrived, his production reached another level entirely.
In the divisional round, Walker bulldozed the San Francisco 49ers for 119 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-6 demolition.
With that performance, he joined Shaun Alexander from 2004 as the only Seahawks to rush for three touchdowns in a single postseason game.
He followed it with 111 total yards and another rushing score in the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Historically, his postseason run places him in rare company. Walker, Terrell Davis from 1997, and Jerry Rice from 1988 are the only NFL players to average at least 125 yards from scrimmage and at least two touchdowns across multiple games in a single postseason.
Now, the stage is his alone. Charbonnet, who still has one year remaining on his rookie deal, tore knee ligaments in the opening playoff game and is done for the season.
Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak leaned even harder on his run-heavy philosophy against the New England Patriots, and it paid off handsomely. Although he didn’t score a touchdown, Walker got his team up the field with blistering carries.
How much do Seattle need Walker?
The Seattle Seahawks ran the ball on roughly 50 percent of their plays this season, third-most in the NFL, trailing only Buffalo and Baltimore.
That approach sets up Sam Darnold for what the Pro Bowl quarterback does best: play-action passing.
With an estimated 200 million viewers worldwide, including all 32 NFL general managers, watching on Sunday, everything points toward Walker getting a huge reward for his efforts.
He insists he isn’t thinking about free agency yet. “The mindset is: Keep the main thing the main thing,” Walker said.
After his MVP performance against the New England Patriots, the message will be impossible to ignore. One way or another, Walker‘s Super Bowl showcase is about to get him paid with or without the Seahawks.
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