Four free agent fits and two trades that should happen

The Super Bowl LX Most Valuable Player might not fetch the offer he expects from the Seahawks, who have a number of defensive players to attempt to retain after their climb to the NFL’s mountaintop. Seattle has a decent argument against paying Walker, too: Despite the recent success from of a handful of prominent running backs, along with a recovery of the running back market, it’s still not a position that’s generally worth investing in lucratively. Walker also doesn’t have a demonstrated history that’s necessarily deserving of a lavish contract. In fact, while he had an excellent 2025 season, his role in Seattle’s offense only grew after Zach Charbonnet suffered a season-ending injury in the playoffs.

Yes, Walker delivered. But he’ll likely fetch a better offer outside of Seattle and owes it to himself to at least listen to other interested parties.

Houston should absolutely become one of those parties. Joe Mixon’s mysterious foot ailment cost him all of 2025, forcing the Texans to rely on rookie Woody Marks and diminished veteran Nick Chubb. The results were largely forgettable: Houston finished 22nd in rushing in the regular season and clearly couldn’t balance out the offense in order to help quarterback C.J. Stroud, positioning him for a ghastly showing in the Divisional Round. 

If the Texans are serious about finding a way to advance to Championship Weekend, they’ll need to upgrade at running back. They can clear $8 million in cap space by cutting Mixon with a post-June 1 designation, opening the right amount of money to immediately hand to Walker in what might be a backloaded deal in order to fit him into their cap.