Kenneth Walker III could be the next player in the tradition of Larry Brown, Desmond Howard, and Dexter Jackson.
Each won the Super Bowl MVP and then became free agents. Each left for a larger offer from another team.
Brown, the MVP of Super Bowl XXX after catching two passes that Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell threw right to him, signed with the Raiders. Howard, who had 244 return yards in the game and scored on a 99-yard kickoff return to essentially ice Super Bowl XXXI, also signed with the Raiders. Jackson, the Super Bowl XXXVII MVP in a Buccaneers win over the Raiders, signed with the Cardinals.
Walker may now be free to do the same thing. Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, the Seahawks are “unlikely” to apply the franchise tag to Walker.
Tweets Schefter: “The Seahawks have multiple free agents they want to retain and sign. They also will try to extend WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. There are enough Super-Bowl tax costs that now make using a franchise tag this offseason unlikely.”
The franchise tag would result in a one-year, $14.1 million contract for Walker. In four total seasons, he has made $8.44 million.
The fact that the Seahawks have leaked this nugget upon the opening of the two-week tag window likely wasn’t accidental. They want their fans to understand what’s going on, and in turn to short-circuit any speculation/anticipation that Walker may be tagged.
The implicit message is that the Seahawks believe Walker wants more on a long-term deal than the Seahawks can justify. The Seahawks may also believe that Walker won’t get what he’s looking for on the open market, either.
His agents likely will find out the answer next week at Tampering Central a/k/a the Scouting Combine.
Still, the best offer Walker gets may end up being better than whatever the Seahawks will pay. And the Seahawks are making their assessment not on three 2025 postseason games but four full seasons of working directly with Walker.
That’s always the most important thing to remember when free agency rolls around. In most cases, the team that has employed the player for four or five years has placed a lower value on him than a stranger will. There’s a chance Seattle has gotten it wrong (like the Giants did with Saquon Barkley), but it’s an assessment that needs to be made in light of the other areas of the roster that require the cash and the cap space.
Then there’s the basic supply/demand reality of the running back position. The Seahawks can draft Walker’s replacement, pay him a lot less than Walker wants, and plug him into the offense right away. Or they can sign a veteran who won’t be looking for an eight-figure average.
Read the full article here
