The Las Vegas Raiders can't seem to stop hiring former Seattle Seahawks coaches as their head coach. An obvious tentacle of this reality is that most Seahawks free agents will be linked to the Silver and Black, regardless of whether the player or their price range makes sense.
After the year that Klint Kubiak had in Seattle, particularly his work in the run game, plenty linked Kenneth Walker III to Las Vegas this offseason. This is despite the fact that the Super Bowl LX MVP was likely to get a massive deal on the open market, and the Raiders still have Ashton Jeanty.
Spending too much on free agents when one already has elite young talent in the building is reckless use of resources. Luckily for Las Vegas and general manager John Spytek, the Raiders' AFC West rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, saved them from making that mistake.
Chiefs just made an ill-advised Kenneth Walker signing to open up FA
Shortly after the legal tampering period of free agency began, the Chiefs signed Walker III. He didn't just sign with Kansas City, however. Walker signed a three-year deal worth $43.05 million with $28.7 million guaranteed. The contract could even be worth up to $45 million.
Yes, Walker is a great running back. Yes, the Chiefs needed some semblance of a rushing attack, as they struggled mightily without it last year. But that is a lot of money to spend on a running back who has never really shouldered the entire load for an offense.
With Patrick Mahomes recovering from an ACL tear, a lethal rushing attack is paramount. But again, Kansas City's salary cap situation is not great. They just had to cut Jawaan Taylor and trade Trent McDuffie. They had to let Jaylen Watson walk in free agency.
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Does signing Walker really make up for all of those losses? I find that hard to believe. Again, he's a very good running back, and at the right price, surely Kubiak and Spytek would have wanted him in Las Vegas. But price is everything, especially for non-premier positions like running back.
If the Chiefs are attempting to recoup after a down year and make another push in the AFC West, re-signing Travis Kelce to a lucrative deal and adding Walker at that price is not the way to do it. If the Raiders build the right way this offseason, they may officially leapfrog the NFL's longtime Goliath.
Walker may very well dominate in Kansas City and be the missing piece that their offense needed. But last year proved that the Chiefs are more than a running back away, and this offseason made them feel even further. Thankfully, they made this deal, and the Raiders didn't.