KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs and Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker have agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $45 million to bring the former Seattle running back to Kansas City, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Monday.

The deal includes $28.7 million guaranteed and $43.05 million in base value, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because contracts cannot become official until the new league year begins Wednesday.

Walker fills perhaps the biggest need for the Chiefs as they try to bounce back from a disastrous 6-11 season. Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, their top two running backs, are both free agents, leaving only second-year pro Brashard Smith under contract.

The deal came as the Chiefs were nearing an agreement to bring back four-time All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce for his 14th season, a person familiar with those negotiations told AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because that contract was not yet final.

Walker, a second-round pick in the 2022 draft, ran for 3,555 yards and 29 touchdowns over four seasons with the Seahawks. He had 1,027 yards and five scores last season, and he was even better in the playoffs, running for 116 yards and three TDs against the 49ers, another touchdown against the Rams, and 135 yards in a 29-13 win over the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

He is the fourth Super Bowl MVP to change teams the following season: Larry Brown went from the Cowboys to the Raiders, Desmond Howard from the Packers to the Raiders, and Dexter Jackson from the Buccaneers to the Cardinals.

The Chiefs have long survived at running back behind a patchwork of late-round draft picks and bargain free agents. But they were desperate to improve the position after ranking 25th in the NFL in rushing last season with just 106.6 yards per game.

Hunt finished with 661 yards rushing and Pacheco with 462 yards. The Chiefs' third-leading rusher was quarterback Patrick Mahomes with 422 yards and five touchdowns, and he missed the final three games of the season with a torn knee ligament.

The Chiefs had been linked to Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love in the upcoming NFL draft, but his strong scouting combine may have pushed him so far up draft boards that he will be unavailable when Kansas City is due to pick at No. 9 overall.

The Chiefs also have the No. 29 pick in the first round as part of their deal to send cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Rams. And by signing Walker in free agency, they have more flexibility in the draft to address some of their other pressing needs, including a weak pass rush, the interior of their defensive line, their offensive line depth and wide receiver.

___

AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Harrison scored 20 points, Sydney Shaw added 17 and No. 15 West Virginia avenged two regular-season losses to No. 10 TCU by beating the reigning Big 12 Tournament champion 62-53 in the conference title game on Sunday.

Harrison also had six rebounds and four assists while wreaking havoc on defense, and Kierra Wheeler contributed 10 points, helping the second-seeded Mountaineers (27-6) win their second Big 12 tourney title and first since the 2016-17 season.

Olivia Miles, the league player of the year, scored 17 points for No. 1 seed TCU (29-5) despite playing most of the way in foul trouble. Marta Suarez added 16 points but was just 6 of 19 from the field and fouled out in the final minute.

West Virginia led 56-43 with 90 seconds left before TCU ran off seven straight points to provide some hope. But Harrison, a senior from Oklahoma City, calmly made two free throws with 33.4 seconds remaining to help put the game away.

TCU handed the Mountaineers two of their six regular-season losses, both in defensive slugfests: 51-50 on Jan. 14 and 59-50 just over a month later. And their meeting for the conference championship had the same feel as the first two in the trilogy.

Whichever team broke 50 first would win.

The Mountaineers took a 26-23 lead into halftime, relying on their full-court pressure to take TCU out of its offensive rhythm. At one point, the pesky Harrison turned a turnover by Suarez into a coast-to-coast layup, and on the next possession, Shaw created another turnover that Taylor Bigby converted into another easy layup.

Miles was providing the only consistent offense for TCU. But she picked up her third foul with 2:54 left in the first half and took a seat next to coach Mark Campbell on the bench, and West Virginia scored seven unanswered leading into the break to take control.

Then, Miles picked up foul No. 4 just 39 seconds into the second half.

The transfer from Notre Dame played most of the way, but she wasn't nearly as aggressive, and her supporting cast struggled to pick up the offensive slack. West Virginia relentlessly pressured the Horned Frogs on the defensive end, and Mark Kellogg's team was able to turn enough of that defense into offense to begin pulling away.

Up next

The Mountaineers will likely be seeded fourth or fifth in the NCAA Tournament and hit the road for their first-round matchup.

The Horned Frogs are likely to host first- and second-round March Madness games on campus, just like they did last season. And if they advance, they could play in one of the two regionals being played at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Darryn Peterson tried to steal the show from Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. on Senior Day at Kansas.

Turned out they all shared in the spotlight.

Peterson, the freshman sensation and potential No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, poured in 27 points while going 10 of 15 from the field and hitting Flory Bidunga for a series of ally-oop dunks. White contributed 23 points and 11 rebounds in his final game at Allen Fieldhouse, while Council merely had 17 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in his last game at the Phog.

It added up to a 104-85 rout of Kansas State on Saturday that underscored the vast potential No. 14 Kansas carries into the postseason.

"I think that was the point: We saw the ball go in the hole," Jayhawks coach Bill Self said. “Everybody got a chance to play, all of that stuff. We still didn't guard; we have to be better at that. But we needed to have a win. It was a good afternoon for us.”

Good?

The Jayhawks shot 59% from the field against the Wildcats. They had a 45-28 rebounding advantage and dished out 23 assists.

Those kinds of numbers can mask a lot of ills.

“I don't know that you always have to have all five playing well, but you have to have all five playing together,” Self said. “The last two games we've played, even though there weren't as many open looks, we shot the ball miserably. So it was good to see it go in.”

Indeed, there are few teams more boom-or-bust than the Jayhawks have been this season.

At their best, they're the team that beat Tennessee on a neutral floor, sent Iowa State and Arizona to their first losses of the season, beat BYU and Texas Tech in a three-day span, and dealt Houston a humbling 69-56 defeat a couple of weeks ago.

At their best.

At their worst, the Jayhawks have looked like a discombobulated mess, losing to UCF, Cincinnati and Arizona State during an up-and-down Big 12 slate, dropping the rematch at Arizona by more than 20, and losing four of their last six heading into Saturday.

Perhaps some of that inconsistency came from Peterson's inconsistent availability. One of the school's most heralded recruits missed time throughout the season with cramping issues and other injuries, and even missed a game while battling the flu.

Yet the 6-foot-6 guard seems to be hitting his stride at just the right time.

“I'm feeling good,” Peterson said. "Perfect timing as we go into the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA. I'm feeling the best I've felt.”

It seems so are the rest of the Jayhawks.

White, the transfer from Illinois, showed against Kansas State the kind of inside-outside versatility that has made him so invaluable this season. He was 5 of 9 from beyond the arc against the Wildcats, yet White also had a game-high in rebounds.

“We're not trying to be too high or too low,” he said. “We handle our principles we should be handling our business.”

Council, who arrived from St. Bonaventure, came up two rebounds shy of a triple-double on Saturday. He has proven to be a scorer (36 points in a win over NC State), distributor (12 assists against Kansas State in January) and the heart and soul of the operation.

One season at Kansas left such an impression on Council that he kissed the big Jayhawk logo at center court on Saturday.

Throw in Bidunga, one of the premier interior defenders in college hoops, and the Jayhawks have a quartet that is every bit as good as anybody else in the country, and one that has the potential —

“What goes through my mind,” Peterson said: “Let's go win a championship.”

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Freshman star Darryn Peterson scored 27 points in his likely Allen Fieldhouse finale, Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. had memorable senior send-offs of their own, and No. 14 Kansas routed Kansas State 104-85 on Saturday.

Peterson, the potential No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft, was an efficient 10 of 15 from the field for the Jayhawks (22-9, 12-6 Big 12), who clinched a double-bye in next week's conference tournament by winning on Senior Day for the 43rd consecutive year.

White, a transfer from Illinois, had 23 points and 11 rebounds to cap his lone regular season in Lawrence, while Council — who arrived from St. Bonaventure — nearly had a triple-double with 17 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in his final game at the Phog.

The win was a much-needed confidence boost heading into the postseason for the Jayhawks, who had dropped four of their previous six games, and it extended their home win streak over their in-state rivals to 20 in a row.

P.J. Haggerty, who missed last week's win over West Virginia with an undisclosed injury, scored 21 points to lead the Wildcats (12-19, 3-15). Nate Johnson also had 21 points, while Khamari McGriff finished with 15.

The game was close only until midway through the first half, when Kansas ran off nine straight points to take control. It pushed the advantage to 46-33 by halftime, and the lead swelled to nearly 20 in the opening minutes of the second half.

Kansas State got within 11 on a couple of occasions, but Peterson and his senior teammates eventually poured it on.

The clinching blow came with about 12 minutes to go, when C.J. Jones fouled Peterson and then was whistled for a technical foul. The ensuing free throws were part of big run by Kansas that pushed the lead to 78-54 with under 10 minutes left in the game.

Up next

Kansas State will be the No. 15 seed for the Big 12 Tournament and play a first-round game on Tuesday. The Jayhawks will learn their seeding later Saturday and will open play in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball