Brock and Salk react to Seahawks losing RB Kenneth Walker III

It did not take long for the defending champion Seattle Seahawks to see their first departure in free agency, with Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III going to Kansas City Chiefs within the first half-hour of the “legal tampering” period Monday morning.

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Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk were on the air as the news broke, and the two hosts took different routes in their reactions while ending at essentially the same result.

For football broadcast analyst and former NFL quarterback Brock Huard, he was happy for Walker, who according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero is getting a three-year contract with Kansas City worth up to $45 million, the highest-paid deal ever for a running back in free agency. But Huard’s longtime co-host, Mike Salk, was happy for another reason.

Here’s a look at what they both had to say following the news of Walker’s departure.

Brock’s initial take

“I say good for Ken Walker. Good for Kenny, man. Contract year, (fellow Seahawks running back) Zach Charbonnet goes down late in the year with an ACL, pretty devastating for him, and more had to be put on (Walker’s) plate. And he ate, and he was at his best when the team needed him the most. After gathering my thoughts for five minutes… that’s probably the overwhelming thought I had. Good for you, man. Good for you.

“Came here as a second-round pick, a little bit up and down, battled a bunch of soft-tissue injuries your first two, three years, still flashed incredible plays. But when this team needed you the most, this organization needed you the most, you were at your very best. And because of it, you get a deal to Kansas City and get to chase another Super Bowl ring with (quarterback Patrick) Mahomes and (coach) Andy Reid, and at a time where they’re kind of urgent and desperate to get it done. So good for Ken Walker.”

"Good for Ken Walker."@BrockHuard & @TheMikeSalk share their instant reactions to the #Seahawks RB signing in Kansas City. https://t.co/VVlZ81f0io pic.twitter.com/dQvXztlh5x

— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) March 9, 2026

Salk’s initial take

“I’m not really going to miss Ken Walker that much. Good player. What he did over the last four games of his Seahawks career was great. What he did for the previous nearly four years was OK.

“… What do you think the tax is for him having a great game in the Super Bowl? What do you think the tax is that Kansas City had to pay for him for there not being an obvious person to give the (Super Bowl) MVP award to on the defense? Because we all know, we watched the Super Bowl, the defense as a whole was the MVP. There was no one player that deserved it, so Ken Walker gets it and I got no problems with it. He deserved it. He should have been the MVP. But the fact that there was no one standout on the obvious MVP of the defense just made this guy like an extra $6-8 million total. Good for him. He’s played it perfectly. He had his best moments in front of the biggest crowds. That’s the way you want to do it.”

The back and forth

Salk: “I’ve never been that impressed (with Walker). It’s not that I hate the guy; I’ve just never been that impressed. And he did put it together for those four games. But the previous four years were pretty frustrating, waiting for him to break that out, to be that guy that he was over the last four games. You’re not paying for what he did in the past, you’re paying for what you think he’s going to do in the future. I don’t think he’s going to do that in the future.”

Brock: “He was just inconsistent. There was explosiveness galore. There were highlight plays. There were 100-yard games. There were highlight reel plays. And then there was some inconsistency. And how much of that was him? How much of that was health? How much of that was the O-line? How much of that was scheme, with a play-caller that couldn’t put it together and couldn’t do what (2025 Seahawks offensive coordinator) Klint Kubiak and this O-line group did here?”

Salk: “But that’s kind of the point. Like, he’s a running back that needed everything around him to be going really well, and most running backs are like that. That’s not an insult. Most running backs need everything around them to be really good. … There are only a couple of running backs in the league that truly make that big a difference. He’s not one of them. He’s fine. He’s a good player. But he’s not a running back that truly makes that big a difference.”

Brock: “I don’t think that’s unreasonable. I think that’s fair.”

Salk: “I saw a guy that was OK, and the Seahawks did too, which is why they let him go.”

Hear the full conversation in the middle segment of the podcast at this link or in the player below. Catch Brock and Salk from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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