Chiefs sign – Kansas City is trying to pull itself out of a 6-11 season with a clear message in the offseason: lean harder on the run. Mike Sando of The Athletic singled out the signing of Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III as the Chiefs’ standout move for the 2
The Chiefs finished the 2025 season with a 6-11 record and no trip to the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era. It was a collapse in results, and it left the offense searching for answers heading into 2026.
So when Kansas City made its move at the center of the offseason—signing running back Kenneth Walker III in free agency—it carried a kind of urgency you could feel even before the first game plan was drawn up. In a story published on Wednesday. May 27. Mike Sando of The Athletic named his favorite offseason move for each NFL franchise.
For the Chiefs, Sando’s choice was straightforward: Walker.
Sando wrote that the team’s investment—three years and $43 million in the Super Bowl MVP—will keep the focus on coach Andy Reid’s commitment to the run game in Kansas City while Patrick Mahomes recovers from knee surgery. In his framing, the point isn’t just adding a talented player. It’s trying to make the run game a larger engine for the offense—so Reid can “empower the ground game via formation and personnel. ” and Kansas City can become less reliant on Mahomes’ legs to sustain drives.
Sando added that whether the Chiefs actually become “less reliant” remains to be seen. Still, he said Walker’s addition sent a signal.
The pressure of 2025 is part of why that signal mattered. Sando noted that Mahomes was light on targets in 2025, and that hurt the Chiefs. If the quarterback has fewer weapons stretching the field, the ground game becomes harder to ignore—and harder to defend. Walker available for 2026 changes the math.
There’s also the simple football logic behind the praise. Sando pointed out that Walker. a graduate of Michigan State University. is a player he watched “in action for years. ” calling it obvious early on that Walker is special. He also stressed that it’s not often that a team gets the chance to sign the brand new Super Bowl MVP—and that Kansas City “did the right thing” by jumping at the opportunity.
For Chiefs fans who spent last season wondering why drives stalled and why the passing game didn’t produce. the hope now is that Walker can stabilize the offense from the ground up. The question isn’t whether he’s a major name. The question is whether Kansas City can turn a signing into an identity—one that doesn’t depend as much on Mahomes’ legs to keep the offense moving. especially during his knee recovery.
Kansas City Chiefs 2026 offseason Kenneth Walker III Patrick Mahomes Andy Reid knee surgery 6-11 record free agency running back
3 years 43 million?? That’s insane lol. If it fixes their run game I’m all for it.
So basically they’re panicking because they were 6-11? Also Mahomes recovering from a knee surgery like… that’s not good, right? Walker better not be a bust.
I don’t get how signing Walker makes them less reliant on Mahomes, like if your QB is hurt you still need passes?? Unless they’re just gonna run every play now. Reid always does weird stuff anyway.
Kenneth Walker being Super Bowl MVP is wild but I feel like the article is acting like he’s the missing piece for all their problems. Their offense was bad, period, not just the run game. And wasn’t Mahomes already like elite even when nobody could catch? Idk, we’ll see, but 6-11 sounds like more than just “need to lean harder on the run.”