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Zach Charbonnet #26 of the Seattle Seahawks

After winning the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks entered the NFL offseason with many questions about their squad and the franchise’s immediate future.

One of those questions was whether the team would retain Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III, who became a household name after his performance against the Patriots.

Ultimately, Walker chose to head elsewhere, agreeing to a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs in NFL free agency, which put the pressure on the Seahawks to fill the void in the backfield.

Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald Gives Update on Zach Charbonnet

GettyZach Charbonnet #26 of the Seattle Seahawks

Along with losing Walker in free agency to the Chiefs, Seattle had the uncertainty of Zach Charbonnet‘s return to the gridiron, as he had torn his ACL before reaching the Super Bowl.

After the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, in which the Seahawks drafted Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price, head coach Mike Macdonald was asked about Charbonnet’s recovery from the knee injury and whether there’s a timeline for a return, via Seahawks Press Pass.

“I can’t give you a timeline right now, but I can tell you he’s killing it,” Macdonald said of Charbonnet’s recovery. “As we knew he would as I mean, we’ve said it the whole if you’re going to bet on anybody, it’s Zach Charbonnet. But I’m excited for him. He’s in great spirits. The guys downstairs are doing a great job with him. And I think he’s just with these long-term injuries, you just got to like, I say it all the time, you just got to like stack these things. You got to be able to get to the next thing and then go rip it. And that’s what he’s doing. So, um, I’m excited for Zach.”

Even though Macdonald is “excited” for Charbonnet and his progress, the team felt the need to address the running back position, with general manager John Schneider revealing the importance of the decision to draft Price.

“It was important,” Schneider said of drafting Price. “It wasn’t that we weren’t going to like, completely force it, but it was important. There’s still some darn good running backs left, but yeah, it was definitely, if you said, ‘Hey, your needs.’ … We just lost a really good runner in Ken Walker.”

With the Seahawks losing Charbonnet to a knee injury and Walker to free agency, it’s not all that surprising that the team would go after a rookie running back to fill the void in the backfield.

Seahawks GM: Jadarian Price is a ‘Great Player, Great Person’

GettyJadarian Price #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Sneider shared some insight on why the Seahawks decided to draft Price after the first round of the draft on Thursday.

“Great player, great person,” Schneider said of Price. “We thought we had some opportunities for a minute. It fell apart. There’s a lot of trading going on there right ahead of us. But he kind of stood alone. Great player.

“The person’s outstanding, the competitor. He’s a Seahawk. It’s really cool. And we were actually concerned that people were going to come ahead of us because it felt like it was just so out there in terms of mock drafts and what have you.”

It’ll be interesting to see the kind of impact Price will have in his first season in Seattle, as he has some big shoes to fill, especially if Charbonnet isn’t ready to take the field in Week 1.