Summary
The Kansas City Chiefs have reached an agreement with running back Kenneth Walker III, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, on a three-year contract worth up to $45 million, according to multiple reports.
The deal includes $28.7 million guaranteed and $43.05 million in base value, per an Associated Press report carried by KSL. Because NFL contracts can’t become official until the new league year begins, Walker’s agreement is expected to be finalized Wednesday.
Walker’s agreement is one of the headline deals of the NFL’s negotiating window, with financials that show Kansas City wasn’t shopping for another bargain backfield fix. The AP report lists $28.7 million guaranteed and $43.05 million base value, rising to $45 million with incentives.
Reuters reported the agreement surfaced within the first 30 minutes of the permitted negotiating period, underlining just how quickly Kansas City prioritized the move.
Kansas City’s need at running back was blunt. The Chiefs are coming off a 6–11 season, and their top two rushers at the position — Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco — are both free agents, leaving Brashard Smith as the only back specifically noted as under contract in the AP report.
The production backed up the urgency: the Chiefs ranked 25th in the NFL in rushing, averaging 106.6 yards per game. Hunt ran for 661 yards, Pacheco for 462, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished as the team’s third-leading rusher with 422 yards and five rushing TDs.
Mahomes’ season also ended early after a serious knee injury; the team later confirmed a torn ACL.
Walker arrives with both volume production and the kind of explosiveness the Chiefs have lacked on the ground. Over four seasons with Seattle, he ran for 3,555 yards and 29 touchdowns, and he posted 1,027 yards and five scores last season.
His playoff run is what elevated him into headline territory: the AP report cites 116 yards and three TDs vs. the 49ers, another TD against the Rams, and 135 rushing yards in Seattle’s 29–13 Super Bowl win over New England.
Reuters added that Walker produced 161 total yards on 29 touches in the Super Bowl and brings a “big-play element” to Kansas City’s run game.
Walker’s move is unusual historically. The AP report notes he becomes just the fourth Super Bowl MVP to switch teams the following season, joining Larry Brown, Desmond Howard, and Dexter Jackson.
The Walker agreement landed as the Chiefs were also moving toward a return for Travis Kelce, according to AP reporting referenced by KSL.
Separately, Reuters reported Kelce has confirmed he will return for the 2026 season (his 14th), though contract details were still being finalized in that report.
Kansas City holds the No. 9 overall pick, and the AP report said the Chiefs had been linked to Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, but his strong combine could push him up boards and out of range.
The Chiefs also have No. 29 in the first round as part of the deal sending cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams — a trade later detailed by NFL.com and multiple reports.
With Walker now penciled in as a centerpiece back, the AP report said Kansas City can use premium draft capital to address other needs, including pass rush, interior defensive line, offensive line depth, and wide receiver.
Nothing is official until Wednesday, but the direction is already clear: Kansas City isn’t trying to patch its run game with another short-term bargain. The Chiefs paid for a high-end solution — a Super Bowl MVP — and in doing so, reshaped how they can approach the top of the 2026 draft.
