Love to see an extension with excellent incentives in it. Maybe base is a tad lower but due to his injury history, set high paying incentives not unlike what Geno had, and ended up hitting. He goes off for say 1500 yards, it became worth the extra outlay. And we’ve got the cap it seems.
If we're all smart enough to see that he's at a low-value point in his career, then so are Walker and his agent. I think JS would have to offer around $12 million/year to get him to take an extension at this point. This still might be a great deal. I'd overpay now, but I've also always been higher on Walker than reasonable. I think the NFL has a short memory and if he dominates 2025 his FA value could skyrocket above to the $14 million/year mark, closer to elite RB money.
Having a bluechip RB is always a plus especially with the offense Kubiak is going to run. But I want to take a minute and look at another NFC West team. The 49ers seem to come up with RB's you've never heard of that tend to be pretty good. Kyle's Dad had the same knack with Denver many years back. Sometimes I wonder if the offensive scheme and O-Line are not a bigger contributing factor to success, than the actualy skill player alone. Barkley played pretty well in NY but was hurt alot and really limited to a poor offense and a poor O-Line. Then he goes to Philly and resurrects his career. Did Philly's scheme and line have something to do with that. Of course it did. Really the same is true for McCaffery coming from the Panthers to the 49ers. I look at KC and Buffalo who seem to find someone who "does enough". What kind of money are they paying . What I have seen the last few years is a number of pretty good RB's coming out in the draft, and 2026 seems to have 10 more names that present pretty good draft depth again. I think as some of the other Joe's have posters have mentioned, you have to prioritize need, best "team" contribution and finally the best ceiling to win. I' wondering if position group and depth is a more important factor than blue chip players is to winning. The NFL as we well all know is a game of attrition. Just ask Detroit and their defense last year. Philly, and in years past Dallas have prioritized their O-Line. Don't look now, but seattle has leaned that way since 2022. Seattle has the potential to start 2 #1's, and 2 #3 picks this year on O-Line. Can anyone remember the last time that happened? So the argument for resigning could be a good one, but I'm wondering if spreading money to defense and O-Line might be a better bet. Ever wonder what part of the formula Blechick used for years in NE that added to Brady's success. He used to trade good players often while they still had draft value and minimize the overall payroll to use where needed most. Does that sound like any team we know recently. I would pay Cross, possibly Mafe, consider Woolen ( you might be able to get him one the cheap this year too), and keep Lucas in mind depending on his health this year. What really separated Marshawn and Adian Peterson for years was their ability to start year after year. For RB, that's pretty much a Unicorn. I think Seattle needs to continue to spread the wealth. Don't forget Seattle, Denver, Balitmore, and Philly winning the SB with top defenses. KC struggled until they improved on that side of the ball. The Rams had the best D money could buy the year they won. The 49ers seem to be in one big game or another with defense tipping that scale often. If you can get Walker for a reasonable price and the o_line investment pays off, sign him. Let's not sell the farm though and put all of our eggs into the positional basket, now happening a WR. QB is a given sometimes. Dilfer, and Manning in his last SB were not exactly elite. The team defenses were. Seattle seems to be moving in the direction of finding new talent, trading for picks and working on the front lines more the last few years. I feel pretty good about that approach. Are we beginning to see a signature approach with JS at the top and MM shaping a new era for Seattle. The pundits may think Seattle has earned last place in the NFC West, or they haven't woke up to the fact that not only is change neccesary, it's the only way you can continue to win in the NFL. With Seattle flipping their entire roster the last few years, Seattle is not your Dad's Olsmobilie anymore; the national press just hasn't figured that out, but I think will discover the "New Seahawks". Seattle is moving forward with a young roster, solid FA signings the last two years (and select contract renewals). SSJ is right on playing the money game when you have a chance to deal in your favor. It also makes sense to present Walker with a line and scheme that makes that signing a good investment; and not throwing bad money on good money.
Good point about the opportunity to extend him at a low point. His career stats compared to Williams aren’t as much of the story as his career progression. Yards per attempt gradually decreasing, down from 4.6 to 3.7. Yards per game down from 70 to 52. Injured for 6 games last year. Receiving improved, almost 300 yds in 11 games, vs 165 in yr 1 15 games. And 19 first downs on receptions last year stands out. Perhaps his receiving game is the big upside in Kubiak’s offense.
It’s tough to know where to place blame with K-9. He is beautiful when he flashes. Maybe it’s the OCs and the line play, but he’s still been injury prone, and sometimes it feels like there’s a trust issue when he disappears from the offense at times. It would sure be great to see a full healthy season from him.
Sign him at the right price with some incentives for games played.
Walker hasn’t shown enough to merit extending him. Charles Cross comes first, for sure. I would extend Bryant, Mafe, and Woolen before Walker, and I wouldn’t extend any of them. (Maybe Mafe.)
I do worry about 'core' injuries when they repeatedly happen. They are slow to heal and almost impossible to play through. I don't know whether the training staff has sorted out why he's had a couple of those (just bad luck or something he needs to train differently). Just on pure talent, sure, extend him, but keep the deal structure such that the team is protected in case it continues to happen. Maybe a 4 year deal, with only 2 years of guaranteed money, or something in that range. He gets a significant pay raise, and the team is mostly protected. If he has 2 monster seasons, redo his deal again.
By all accounts he's an outstanding young man and unselfish teammate, with a lot of untapped talent. So you want to keep those guys around if you can. Kubiak's biggest challenge is maximizing the skill players at his disposal. Walker is certainly a weapon he can utilize much better than previous OC's. Get Outz out in front of him and let him go.
Pete's focus was on wide receivers, taking 28% of the budget to attract and keep them. That money came from not paying our O-Line players, who finally just wanted out of Seattle. And this doesn't address the money given to Russ or Jamal. His running game demanded our running backs carve open their own holes and gaps, cutting short the careers of all of them, especially Carson and Penny. Hell, we had to bring Marshawn back from retirement after our entire stable of running backs went down. The concern with K9 is our O-Line worries he won't stick to the plays as scripted, which I don't think will be problematic. Give him some daylight and he'll run through it. Of course he'll be shy about that happening. If anything, Walker will make it easier for our new linemen to find their dance moves. In see no reason to consider trading him unless he asks. You GO, Son! There's a SuperBowl ring with your name on it, waiting...
Not until at least camp and see how runs with this line. Walker likes to run wide and is best suited for man or gap scheme. In fact I think Charbonnet is a more natural one cut and go back outside zone runner.
I’d like to see how Walker does in camp as he is often injured and I just don’t see backs as a good 2nd contract investment for the most part.
Agreed if he gets the touches. The question I have is, are they considering him the bell cow, or just one piece of a deep RB room? If he get 70-80% of the touches, and stays healthy, I could see 1200-1400 yards. Kubiak has to get him to work within the structure of the play for longer than he frequently does. He bails pretty quick sometimes and gets creative, which over that past 2 years hasn't worked out well. I mean, given the o-line challenges, and the two OC's over the past 2 years, frequently the yards weren't there to get......so that's not a K9 issue.
Like a QB who is frequently pressured, RB's will not 'trust' the play if the blocking doesn't materialize reliably. They'll get creative and outside the play structure. But if it ain't there, what else are they supposed to do? I like Kenneth, and the talent is there, no question. If MacDonald and Kubiak trust him as a fit to this offense, $8-10M/year seems reasonable. But they are unlikely to keep both him and Charbs, so by extending K9, I think it's unlikely Charbs is here in a couple of years.......and maybe that's ok. Can't sign everyone.
Yeah I think there are more Charbs out there than Walkers — in fact arguably Martinez in the 7th round could be as good, and Chris Carson in the 7th was even better. But Kenneth Walker is just plain special, and shame on us if we can’t leverage his ridiculous skill set. Kubiak and investment in the OL, with a 275 lb lead blocker….
We've seen flashes with a sub-par O-line, I am interested to see him play a full season with a better line and better coaching scheme. We may have wished we extended him early if things play out the way they might.
Honestly, my first thought was you were going to suggest a Kenneth Walker trade...being blindsided by a trade like that would hurt. I really like Walker and have been cheering for him. Wish he'd be patient and work the blocking scheme for what's it's worth..but golly sakes he's special...let's not break the bank but can we please keep him around...go Hawks
Yeah, extending him now might be a bargain. But if he misses 5 or 6 games for injuries again, that will be a bad decision. He looks really ready for this year, he’s at voluntary OTAs, he’s committed. I think he’s going to shine big time…. If he can stay healthy.
If injuries are a concern (and they are) can't that be written into the contract? Not in a punitive way, but a generous bonus structure that rewards games played and yards gained? I type that realizing I truly understand nothing about the cap and whether that hurts or helps, but...
I am not an expert in this field, but my understanding is that yes indeed they can structure the contract for performance bonuses/games played/… as I recall, several of our players had those types of bonuses at stake during our final game a couple years ago. But those bonuses don’t tend to be a very significant part of the players contract.
As I understand, those types of terms aren’t a big part of modern contract for a number of reasons, including that some team owners would screw over the players who had a bounce back your end were set to receive larger bonuses.
Apparently there’s a pool of money each team has to spend as bonuses based on snaps. Part of the collective bargain, like $10-million. Came up with Travis Hunter. That’s different from negotiated contract terms, as I understand it. So Geno’s 4TDs in the last game made him some bank.
I support an extension. If we are truly a running team now, we need a deep stable. The Seahawks have been depleted at RB late in the season before, and Kubiak faced injury hell recently. Both the front office and the staff know that we want all hands on deck. Besides, we have cap space in the near term. I say, “let the negotiations proceed.”
I hope you’re right. He’s a special RB who’s been under-used (in part bc of Schotty and Grubb, and in part bc of his OL) but MacDonald saw him shred his vaunted Michigan defense so he knows he’s got something special. I’m even of the opinion that the blatant lack of appreciation Grubb showed for Walker, was part of his firing although that’s pure conjecture
Love to see an extension with excellent incentives in it. Maybe base is a tad lower but due to his injury history, set high paying incentives not unlike what Geno had, and ended up hitting. He goes off for say 1500 yards, it became worth the extra outlay. And we’ve got the cap it seems.
If we're all smart enough to see that he's at a low-value point in his career, then so are Walker and his agent. I think JS would have to offer around $12 million/year to get him to take an extension at this point. This still might be a great deal. I'd overpay now, but I've also always been higher on Walker than reasonable. I think the NFL has a short memory and if he dominates 2025 his FA value could skyrocket above to the $14 million/year mark, closer to elite RB money.
Having a bluechip RB is always a plus especially with the offense Kubiak is going to run. But I want to take a minute and look at another NFC West team. The 49ers seem to come up with RB's you've never heard of that tend to be pretty good. Kyle's Dad had the same knack with Denver many years back. Sometimes I wonder if the offensive scheme and O-Line are not a bigger contributing factor to success, than the actualy skill player alone. Barkley played pretty well in NY but was hurt alot and really limited to a poor offense and a poor O-Line. Then he goes to Philly and resurrects his career. Did Philly's scheme and line have something to do with that. Of course it did. Really the same is true for McCaffery coming from the Panthers to the 49ers. I look at KC and Buffalo who seem to find someone who "does enough". What kind of money are they paying . What I have seen the last few years is a number of pretty good RB's coming out in the draft, and 2026 seems to have 10 more names that present pretty good draft depth again. I think as some of the other Joe's have posters have mentioned, you have to prioritize need, best "team" contribution and finally the best ceiling to win. I' wondering if position group and depth is a more important factor than blue chip players is to winning. The NFL as we well all know is a game of attrition. Just ask Detroit and their defense last year. Philly, and in years past Dallas have prioritized their O-Line. Don't look now, but seattle has leaned that way since 2022. Seattle has the potential to start 2 #1's, and 2 #3 picks this year on O-Line. Can anyone remember the last time that happened? So the argument for resigning could be a good one, but I'm wondering if spreading money to defense and O-Line might be a better bet. Ever wonder what part of the formula Blechick used for years in NE that added to Brady's success. He used to trade good players often while they still had draft value and minimize the overall payroll to use where needed most. Does that sound like any team we know recently. I would pay Cross, possibly Mafe, consider Woolen ( you might be able to get him one the cheap this year too), and keep Lucas in mind depending on his health this year. What really separated Marshawn and Adian Peterson for years was their ability to start year after year. For RB, that's pretty much a Unicorn. I think Seattle needs to continue to spread the wealth. Don't forget Seattle, Denver, Balitmore, and Philly winning the SB with top defenses. KC struggled until they improved on that side of the ball. The Rams had the best D money could buy the year they won. The 49ers seem to be in one big game or another with defense tipping that scale often. If you can get Walker for a reasonable price and the o_line investment pays off, sign him. Let's not sell the farm though and put all of our eggs into the positional basket, now happening a WR. QB is a given sometimes. Dilfer, and Manning in his last SB were not exactly elite. The team defenses were. Seattle seems to be moving in the direction of finding new talent, trading for picks and working on the front lines more the last few years. I feel pretty good about that approach. Are we beginning to see a signature approach with JS at the top and MM shaping a new era for Seattle. The pundits may think Seattle has earned last place in the NFC West, or they haven't woke up to the fact that not only is change neccesary, it's the only way you can continue to win in the NFL. With Seattle flipping their entire roster the last few years, Seattle is not your Dad's Olsmobilie anymore; the national press just hasn't figured that out, but I think will discover the "New Seahawks". Seattle is moving forward with a young roster, solid FA signings the last two years (and select contract renewals). SSJ is right on playing the money game when you have a chance to deal in your favor. It also makes sense to present Walker with a line and scheme that makes that signing a good investment; and not throwing bad money on good money.
Good point about the opportunity to extend him at a low point. His career stats compared to Williams aren’t as much of the story as his career progression. Yards per attempt gradually decreasing, down from 4.6 to 3.7. Yards per game down from 70 to 52. Injured for 6 games last year. Receiving improved, almost 300 yds in 11 games, vs 165 in yr 1 15 games. And 19 first downs on receptions last year stands out. Perhaps his receiving game is the big upside in Kubiak’s offense.
It’s tough to know where to place blame with K-9. He is beautiful when he flashes. Maybe it’s the OCs and the line play, but he’s still been injury prone, and sometimes it feels like there’s a trust issue when he disappears from the offense at times. It would sure be great to see a full healthy season from him.
Sign him at the right price with some incentives for games played.
Walker hasn’t shown enough to merit extending him. Charles Cross comes first, for sure. I would extend Bryant, Mafe, and Woolen before Walker, and I wouldn’t extend any of them. (Maybe Mafe.)
I do worry about 'core' injuries when they repeatedly happen. They are slow to heal and almost impossible to play through. I don't know whether the training staff has sorted out why he's had a couple of those (just bad luck or something he needs to train differently). Just on pure talent, sure, extend him, but keep the deal structure such that the team is protected in case it continues to happen. Maybe a 4 year deal, with only 2 years of guaranteed money, or something in that range. He gets a significant pay raise, and the team is mostly protected. If he has 2 monster seasons, redo his deal again.
By all accounts he's an outstanding young man and unselfish teammate, with a lot of untapped talent. So you want to keep those guys around if you can. Kubiak's biggest challenge is maximizing the skill players at his disposal. Walker is certainly a weapon he can utilize much better than previous OC's. Get Outz out in front of him and let him go.
Pete's focus was on wide receivers, taking 28% of the budget to attract and keep them. That money came from not paying our O-Line players, who finally just wanted out of Seattle. And this doesn't address the money given to Russ or Jamal. His running game demanded our running backs carve open their own holes and gaps, cutting short the careers of all of them, especially Carson and Penny. Hell, we had to bring Marshawn back from retirement after our entire stable of running backs went down. The concern with K9 is our O-Line worries he won't stick to the plays as scripted, which I don't think will be problematic. Give him some daylight and he'll run through it. Of course he'll be shy about that happening. If anything, Walker will make it easier for our new linemen to find their dance moves. In see no reason to consider trading him unless he asks. You GO, Son! There's a SuperBowl ring with your name on it, waiting...
Not until at least camp and see how runs with this line. Walker likes to run wide and is best suited for man or gap scheme. In fact I think Charbonnet is a more natural one cut and go back outside zone runner.
I’d like to see how Walker does in camp as he is often injured and I just don’t see backs as a good 2nd contract investment for the most part.
I’m with you on extending RBs unless they are Marshawn.
I'll always love K9's double flip and hope he stays with the Hawks for as long as he is healthy.
I think if K9 stays healthy, he gets 1400+ yards this year and 5 yards per carry. Durability is his only major concern.
Agreed if he gets the touches. The question I have is, are they considering him the bell cow, or just one piece of a deep RB room? If he get 70-80% of the touches, and stays healthy, I could see 1200-1400 yards. Kubiak has to get him to work within the structure of the play for longer than he frequently does. He bails pretty quick sometimes and gets creative, which over that past 2 years hasn't worked out well. I mean, given the o-line challenges, and the two OC's over the past 2 years, frequently the yards weren't there to get......so that's not a K9 issue.
Like a QB who is frequently pressured, RB's will not 'trust' the play if the blocking doesn't materialize reliably. They'll get creative and outside the play structure. But if it ain't there, what else are they supposed to do? I like Kenneth, and the talent is there, no question. If MacDonald and Kubiak trust him as a fit to this offense, $8-10M/year seems reasonable. But they are unlikely to keep both him and Charbs, so by extending K9, I think it's unlikely Charbs is here in a couple of years.......and maybe that's ok. Can't sign everyone.
Yeah I think there are more Charbs out there than Walkers — in fact arguably Martinez in the 7th round could be as good, and Chris Carson in the 7th was even better. But Kenneth Walker is just plain special, and shame on us if we can’t leverage his ridiculous skill set. Kubiak and investment in the OL, with a 275 lb lead blocker….
Oh man I can’t WAIT for this season!!!
We've seen flashes with a sub-par O-line, I am interested to see him play a full season with a better line and better coaching scheme. We may have wished we extended him early if things play out the way they might.
You stole this out of my head. I was thinking that they should sign him now at his low point.
I'm still drinking the Kool-Aid you were serving in 2022, and I say extend the man.
Honestly, my first thought was you were going to suggest a Kenneth Walker trade...being blindsided by a trade like that would hurt. I really like Walker and have been cheering for him. Wish he'd be patient and work the blocking scheme for what's it's worth..but golly sakes he's special...let's not break the bank but can we please keep him around...go Hawks
Yeah, extending him now might be a bargain. But if he misses 5 or 6 games for injuries again, that will be a bad decision. He looks really ready for this year, he’s at voluntary OTAs, he’s committed. I think he’s going to shine big time…. If he can stay healthy.
If injuries are a concern (and they are) can't that be written into the contract? Not in a punitive way, but a generous bonus structure that rewards games played and yards gained? I type that realizing I truly understand nothing about the cap and whether that hurts or helps, but...
I am not an expert in this field, but my understanding is that yes indeed they can structure the contract for performance bonuses/games played/… as I recall, several of our players had those types of bonuses at stake during our final game a couple years ago. But those bonuses don’t tend to be a very significant part of the players contract.
As I understand, those types of terms aren’t a big part of modern contract for a number of reasons, including that some team owners would screw over the players who had a bounce back your end were set to receive larger bonuses.
Apparently there’s a pool of money each team has to spend as bonuses based on snaps. Part of the collective bargain, like $10-million. Came up with Travis Hunter. That’s different from negotiated contract terms, as I understand it. So Geno’s 4TDs in the last game made him some bank.
I don’t think that if he misses 5-6 games would be a bad decision. It would just be an unfortunate decision. That’s the risk you take with any player.
I support an extension. If we are truly a running team now, we need a deep stable. The Seahawks have been depleted at RB late in the season before, and Kubiak faced injury hell recently. Both the front office and the staff know that we want all hands on deck. Besides, we have cap space in the near term. I say, “let the negotiations proceed.”
I hope you’re right. He’s a special RB who’s been under-used (in part bc of Schotty and Grubb, and in part bc of his OL) but MacDonald saw him shred his vaunted Michigan defense so he knows he’s got something special. I’m even of the opinion that the blatant lack of appreciation Grubb showed for Walker, was part of his firing although that’s pure conjecture
Double rec for this, zeninhome.
I’m gonna triple rec zezinhom400!
(It’s sort of like jumping a double dog dare, but without the dare).