3 Chiefs Most Affected by Walker Addition

And the Chiefs have done it before, with Joe Montana and Marcus Allen during the 1993-94 seasons. The others were Richard Dent and Jerry Rice with the San Francisco 49ers (1994), Desmond Howard and Larry Brown with the Oakland Raiders (1997), Emmitt Smith and Dexter Jackson with the Arizona Cardinals (2003), Von Miller and Joe Flacco with the Denver Broncos (2019) and Nick Foles and Malcolm Smith with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2019).

Mahomes is obviously the player who benefits most from Walker’s addition, and that’s why the running back is worth every nickel of the $28.7 million in guaranteed money the Chiefs gave him on Monday. In fact, the Chiefs wouldn’t have been able to fit Walker under their salary cap without Mahomes agreeing to restructure his own deal last month.

Walker’s addition is the fulfillment of the Chiefs’ endeavor to become exponentially more explosive in the run game -- and exponentially more respected.

“You check to see what kind of reaction you're getting from the defense,” Reid said the day after the season ended in January. “Normally, if you get a reaction, then you're putting those guys in recovery mode, which normally opens up the middle of the field for you in a decent way.”

Reid said the Chiefs noticed teams simply weren’t respecting their offense like they did in the past, and the team set out to change that. They took a giant leap toward that end on Monday.

Brashard Smith

The Chiefs certainly got good grades for signing Walker, but the knock against the Super Bowl MVP is his lack of punch in the pass game. He has just two career touchdown receptions over his first four seasons and last year posted a career-low 1.8 receptions per game.

But that’s OK because the Chiefs just happen to have a converted wide receiver in their backfield, Brashard Smith. Kansas City’s seventh-round selection in the 2025 draft, Smith showed some enticing juice when he got the ball, especially late in the season.

He also has great hands and crisp route-running ability. If he can continue to earn the Chiefs’ trust with protections, he’s an exciting complement to Walker, especially on passing downs.

Chris Jones

The Chiefs ranked 21st in average time of possession last season, mostly because their offense struggled to convert on third down (37.4 percent, 22nd). That meant 31-year-old Chris Jones was on the field more than previous years. If the Chiefs can improve their time of possession with more first downs, thanks to Walker, Jones will be fresher on defense.