Travis Kelce’s Super Bowl dream gets a major boost as Kenneth Walker gives Patrick Mahomes a new weapon (Image via Getty: Travis Kelce, Kenneth Walker III, Patrick Mahomes)
Hunt’s contract ended after the 2025 season, while Pacheco joined Jahmyr Gibbs on the Detroit Lions. He has become Patrick Mahomes ’ biggest weapon in the 2026 NFL season. The Kansas City Chiefs missed the playoffs in 2025. But when the first 2026 regular-season game happened, Kansas City proved that they have a legitimate threat in the backfield. NFL Network also noted that the Chiefs might heavily rely on Walker to play a crucial role while they waited for Mahomes to work his way back to 100% from his brutal Dec. 2025 knee injury.
Walker fills in for Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco. Anyhow, Walker took a lot of the load off Travis Kelce ’s shoulders. How did they tackle that? By bringing in Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III to strengthen their running game that had consistently lacked a reliable workhorse. They have one man to fill all gaps and offset the downfalls: Kenneth Walker III. Walker probably thrives on revitalizing franchises in dire need of a running game. He did exactly that with the Seattle Seahawks. Mahomes is probably at his weakest right now. He just had his worst possible NFL career injury ever. On the other hand, Travis Kelce is trying to regain the gridiron dominance he used to rule the league with three years ago.
The veteran tight end is entering his 14th NFL season at age 36, and his latest contract provides him the flexibility to potentially retire after the 2026 campaign. He signed a three-year, $57 million contract with the Chiefs in March 2026. If defenses have to account for Walker, Mahomes, Kelce, and the team’s other weapons on every snap, the quarterback will have more favorable, less stressful opportunities to attack.