Kenneth Walker III Splits With Seahawks: What Other Super Bowl MVPs Left the Next Season?

This kind of move is definitely rare in the NFL.

Kenneth Walker III is the fourth Super Bowl MVP to leave their team in the following offseason. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Kenneth Walker III landed with the four-time Super Bowl-winning Chiefs on Monday in free agency, just a month after he won Super Bowl LX with the Seahawks and subsequently won MVP of the Big Game.

Seattle appears to be on top of the NFL world right now coming off of the Super Bowl win—what team wouldn’t? The Seahawks seemingly wanted to keep Walker around, too. We can’t forget Seahawks general manager John Schneider telling everyone at the championship parade that Walker tried negotiating with him five minutes before they walked on stage. Negotiations apparently didn’t work in Walker or the Seahawks’ favors since the running back landed elsewhere in free agency.

You would think the Seahawks would’ve done everything they could to keep their Super Bowl MVP on the squad for the future. It’s not often that the reigning SB MVP leaves the team they just hoisted the Lombardi Trophy up with. In fact, Walker is only the fourth SB MVP to ever walk away from the team in the offseason after winning the championship. Here’s a look at the other three.

Super Bowl MVPs who left their team the following season

Larry Brown, 1996

Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown won the Super Bowl MVP award at Super Bowl XXX as Dallas beat the Steelers 27–17. Brown notably notched two interceptions against Pittsburgh quarterback Neil O’Donnell in the game, helping him win the MVP. This was Brown’s third Super Bowl win in Dallas, but his first and only SB MVP honor.

Coming off all the success and excitement in Dallas, though, Brown ended up landing with the Oakland Raiders in the offseason on a five-year deal. He was the first Super Bowl MVP to ever leave the team in the following offseason.

Brown’s success fell flat in Oakland as he made just one start in 12 games there, and was waived after two seasons. He was suspended from the team in his second season because of “conduct detrimental to the team.” Brown ended up re-signing with the Cowboys in December 1998 to finish out his NFL career there.

Desmond Howard, 1997

Brown started a trend that Packers receiver Desmond Howard followed the next offseason. Howard helped Green Bay win Super Bowl XXXI over the Patriots, and won the game’s MVP award thanks to a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown and 244 total yards.

Howard really followed in Brown’s footsteps as he signed with the Raiders that offseason on a four-year deal. In the 1997 NFL season, Howard led the league in kickoff returns (61) and kickoff return yards (1,381). However, his time in Oakland was also short as he left following the ‘98 season to return to the Packers in ‘99.

Dexter Jackson, 2003

Buccaneers safety Dexter Jackson helped Tampa Bay win Super Bowl XXXVII against the Raiders as he notched two interceptions against Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon in the game. Jackson won the Super Bowl MVP award because of his efforts.

In the offseason, Jackson then signed a five-year deal with the Cardinals. He accumulated six interceptions in Arizona in 2003. However, his tenure with the Cardinals was also cut short as he dealt with a bulging disc in his back. Like the two other players listed above, Jackson returned to the Buccaneers in 2004 and played there for two seasons.

Kenneth Walker III, 2026

It’s been over two decades since a Super Bowl MVP left their team in free agency following the Big Game. There appears to be some patterns with the players named above, though, including them only lasting a couple seasons on their new teams before heading back to the team they won the Super Bowl with. Will Walker follow this pattern and return to the Seahawks in 2028? We’ll see.

Walker won the Super Bowl MVP award after the Seahawks beat the Patriots 29–13 last month in San Francisco. During the game, Walker rushed for 131 yards yards while averaging 5.2 yards yards per carry. Now he’ll join a Chiefs squad that majorly looks to revamp their team following a disappointing 6–10 finish last season to make them miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014. We’ll see how Walker fares in Kansas City.

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