Despite Kenneth Walker III running all over the New England Patriots en route to Super Bowl MVP honors, the Seattle Seahawks may not use the franchise tag on their star running back this offseason.

Walker proved to be one of the Seahawks' lone bright spots offensively for most of Super Bowl LX, during which he rushed for 135 yards and could have had more if a long touchdown run late wasn't called back due to a penalty. But, like many running backs around the NFL, contract extension talks are anything but simple for Walker. And that could lead him to walk away from Seattle in free agency.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio gave his two cents on the matter and explained why the Seahawks might be willing to let go of their 25-year-old tailback after the most important performance of his career.

“The Seattle Seahawks are reportedly unlikely to apply the franchise tag to Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III,” Florio said. “That means he will be, unless he does a new deal with the Seahawks, a free agent. So why would the Seahawks put that out there on the first day of the two-week window for applying the franchise tag? Number one: I think they want the fans to recognize, ‘Hey, hey, don't get too attached to the Super Bowl MVP. We're gonna let him see what else is out there. We're not gonna use that franchise tag. We have other guys that need to be signed or re-signed, like Rashid Shaheed and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who's now eligible for a second contract.'

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“Also, I think the message to Walker is, you may want too much money here. ‘Go ahead, go to the combine,' where there's plenty of tampering, ‘see what other teams are willing to offer. We have a feeling you're gonna find out that you're not gonna get the kind of money that you want from us, and then a decision will need to be made.' And frankly, because of the framing of the report — ‘unlikely' to apply the tag — if we find out out there's a land rush for Kenneth Walker III's services and the numbers are through the roof, the Seahawks can always change their plans. They have until the window closes two weeks from today. We'll see if they do.”

Seattle drafted Walker in the second round back in 2022. During his rookie season, he rushed for a career-high 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns. The following year, he began sharing the backfield with Zach Charbonnet, another second-round draft pick. During each of the last two seasons, Charbonnet and Walker effectively split the handoffs until the divisional round against the San Francisco 49ers this postseason, when Charbonnet tore his ACL. As the definitive feature back in Charbonnet's absence, Walker rushed for 313 yards and four touchdowns and caught nine passes for 104 yards in three playoff games.

If the Seahawks did decide to use their franchise tag on Walker, he would make about $14.1 million next season, more than 1.65 times his career total. Only one other running back is currently slated to make more than that $14.1 million figure in 2026: the Philadelphia Eagles' Saquon Barkley, whose $17.1 million salary is more than $4 million higher than anyone else at the position.