Ken Walker III returning to Lumen Field in Week 7 to face #Seahawks on Sunday Night Football.
Patrick Mahomes will definitely be back by that point for Chiefs as well, if he isn’t ready for start of season anyway.
Getty
Former Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker will be back at Lumen Field this season, per NFL leaked schedule reports.
Kenneth Walker III’s return to Seattle may already be on the calendar.
The former Seattle Seahawks running back is reportedly set to return to Lumen Field in Week 7 as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, with the matchup expected to land on “Sunday Night Football.” Seahawks reporter Corbin K. Smith said on X that Walker will face the Seahawks in Seattle in Week 7, adding that Patrick Mahomes “will definitely be back by that point” for Kansas City if he is not ready for the start of the season.
Ken Walker III returning to Lumen Field in Week 7 to face #Seahawks on Sunday Night Football.
Patrick Mahomes will definitely be back by that point for Chiefs as well, if he isn’t ready for start of season anyway.
For Seattle fans, this is not just another AFC opponent on the schedule. Walker left the Seahawks after becoming one of the central figures of their offense and their Super Bowl LX run. Now, his first reported game back in Seattle comes in a national TV window against a Chiefs team trying to reestablish itself after an unusually turbulent 2025 season.
Walker’s move to Kansas City was one of the bigger running back stories of the offseason.
Reuters reported in March that Walker agreed to a three-year, $45 million deal with the Chiefs after the Seahawks declined to use the franchise tag on him. The report noted that Walker was coming off a Super Bowl LX performance in which he produced 161 total yards on 29 touches against the New England Patriots.
That makes the Week 7 matchup especially layered. Walker is not returning as a fading former player or a depth signing. He is returning as a major offensive investment for Kansas City and as a player who helped Seattle reach the top of the league before leaving in free agency.
The Chiefs’ interest was easy to understand. Kansas City has been searching for more reliable explosiveness in the backfield, and Walker gives Andy Reid’s offense a home-run runner who can stress defenses in a way the Chiefs have not consistently had in recent seasons.
For the Seahawks, the matchup will also offer an early-season measuring stick. Seattle will have to defend a familiar player who knows the environment, knows many of the defenders and understands how loud Lumen Field can get in primetime.
The emotional angle is obvious, but the football angle is better. Seattle’s defensive front and tackling discipline will be tested by a runner who can turn a crease into a 40-yard gain. Kansas City, meanwhile, will get a chance to see how Walker handles a road game that will almost certainly carry a postseason-level feel.
The reported Week 7 timing also matters because of Mahomes.
The Chiefs quarterback is working his way back from an ACL injury sustained in 2025, an injury that played into Kansas City’s late-season collapse. Smith’s post suggested Mahomes should be back by the time Kansas City visits Seattle, even if his availability for the start of the season is not yet settled.
That keeps this from being only a Walker reunion story. If Mahomes is healthy, Seahawks-Chiefs becomes one of the more attractive interconference games on the 2026 slate: the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks, a former Seattle star in Walker and a Chiefs team with Mahomes trying to push Kansas City back into the AFC picture.
Kansas City’s visit would also be its first regular-season trip to Seattle since 2018, when the Seahawks beat the Chiefs 38-31 in a memorable Sunday night game.
Seattle’s 2026 opponent list already guaranteed a home game against Kansas City because the NFC West is matched with the AFC West, but the reported Week 7 primetime slot gives the matchup a much bigger stage.
Heavy is tracking the 2026 NFL schedule release live as leaks, reports and official announcements roll in.
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We’ll be tracking Seahawks schedule updates, primetime games, divisional matchups and major national TV windows throughout the release.
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Erik Anderson is an award-winning sports journalist covering the NBA, MLB and NFL for Heavy.com. He also focuses on the trading card market. His work has appeared in nationally-recognized outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press , USA Today, and ESPN. More about Erik Anderson
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