Should the Seahawks re-sign Walker? Barnwell’s take

Among the Seattle Seahawks set to become unrestricted free agents next month, the biggest name is running back Kenneth Walker III.

And fresh off his Super Bowl MVP performance, Walker’s value has never been higher.

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A 2022 second-round draft pick, Walker played the best football of his career down the stretch. From Week 16 through the Super Bowl, he totaled 771 yards from scrimmage, 5.2 yards per carry and five touchdowns over Seattle’s final six games. That included 161 scrimmage yards in the Seahawks’ 29-13 Super Bowl triumph over the New England Patriots.

On top of that, Walker finished as Pro Football Focus’ top-graded running back this past season. He had a league-best 33.6% avoided tackle rate across both the regular season and postseason, according to FTN Fantasy. And after dealing with injury issues earlier in his career, he stayed healthy and played in all 20 games for Seattle this season.

In recent years, running backs have typically been viewed as more replaceable than other positions. But given Walker’s elite play down the stretch, should the Seahawks re-sign him?

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell weighed in last Thursday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

“You’re probably buying high. He probably had his best game of the year in the Super Bowl,” Barnwell said. “But I just think his ability to create explosives, his ability to get more than what’s blocked, I just think it’s really valuable.”

The estimated price range

Barnwell estimated Walker’s average annual value to be somewhere in the $12-14 million range.

At the moment, the NFL’s five highest-paid running backs by average annual value are Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley ($20.6 million), San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey ($19 million), Baltimore’s Derrick Henry ($15 million), Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor ($14 million) and New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara ($12.25 million), according to Over the Cap.

For comparison, the NFL’s five highest-paid wide receivers each earn an average of at least $32.5 million per year.

Given Walker’s value to the run-heavy Seahawks – and considering that his backfield mate, Zach Charbonnet, could miss a large chunk of the 2026 season while recovering from a torn ACL – Barnwell thinks re-signing Walker at around $12-14 million per year would make sense for Seattle.

The Seahawks have the sixth-most salary cap space in the league at roughly $63.6 million, per Over the Cap.

“If you’re the Seahawks, ($12-14 million) is not a ton of money,” Barnwell said. “I think one of the things people don’t realize about the running back market is it’s really stayed stagnant, while wide receiver has gone up so dramatically that now your top-tier running backs are not making wide receiver No. 1 money. They’re not even making wide receiver No. 2 money.

“So I do think it would make sense for the Seahawks, at that price range, to bring him back,” he added.

What about a franchise tag?

Barnwell also mentioned the possibility of Seattle using a franchise tag on Walker.

Every year, each team is allowed to apply a franchise tag to one player. The franchise tag is a one-year contract offer that guarantees a player a top salary according to his position, with the tradeoff being that it prohibits the player from testing free agency.

The franchise tag for running backs this season is projected to be roughly $14.5 million, according to Over the Cap. The window for teams to apply a franchise tag is Feb. 17 through March 3. The Seahawks have only used a franchise tag once in the past 15 seasons.

“You could bring in the franchise tag and kind of go year to year with him if you don’t want to make it more of a multi-year commitment,” Barnwell said.

Listen to the full Bump and Stacy conversation with ESPN’s Bill Barnwell at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune into Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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