I’m not so sure I’ve completely gotten over the loss to the Bengals 5 days ago. I’m guessing I never will… completely. The same may be true of the Super Bowl loss to the Bucs last February as well. In any case, it’s time to move on and moving on means, speculating what will happen with our Kansas City Chiefs this offseason. Step one in that process, is deciding what the Chiefs team needs are.
Standing Pat or Moving On
Last offseason GM Brett Veach had perhaps his best draft yet bringing in starters LB Nick Bolton, OC Creed Humphrey and RG Trey Smith. Smith was a 6th round pick that the Chiefs took a chance on and he turned out to be a starter and stellar addition to the OL. He not only will one day be a Pro Bowler, but has helped create a complete OL transformation in one offseason. An amazing feat when you think about it. Humphrey and Smith are the reason I used their pictures in the feature graphic.
Without getting into an argument about which draft was Brett Veach’s best, I would project two observations:
- that he has gotten progressively better with each draft
- that he has done well in the mid to lower rounds
That leads me to the “Trust in Veach” state of mind. The Chiefs just hosted their fourth AFC Championship in a row, so there are reasons to trust him.
Signing Free Agents is another issue, as is managing the salary cap and player contracts, but that’s not the topic of discussion today.
Takes of Others
Russel Baxter at NFLSpinZone.com has written an article called: “3 Things the Chiefs Need to Address in 2022” and he says those 3 things are:
- Chiefs must re-emphasize taking care of the football
- Chiefs must develop more consistency on defense
- Kansas City Chiefs must establish a workhorse in the backfield
While I appreciate his take, I don’t fully embrace it. Taking care of the football is something the coaches teach, and not a team need. Same with being more consistent on defense, although that leads to the question: who was responsible for that inconsistency? Establishing a RB workhorse is part of a scheme design or offensive approach. While I understand this desire, I don’t think it’s in Andy Reid’s DNA.
Jeff Kerr at CBS Sports wrote a piece called, “What Chiefs must do to get back to Super Bowl in 2023” and he lists three points as well:
- Get Patrick Mahomes another wide receiver
- Re-sign Orlando Brown and keep the offensive line intact
- Take what the defense gives you
I can embrace that Patrick Mahomes needs another dynamic WR, and that this may be the Chiefs #1 need on offense, it’s not the #1 need overall in my book. Re-signing Orlando Brown seems like a no-brainer to me. No, I don’t consider him a Pro Bowl LT — for now — even though he made the Pro Bowl this year. However, keeping the OL intact is necessary for seeing that unit excel in 2022.
Re-Signing Chiefs Free Agents
While we’re on the subject of, re-signing the Chiefs own Free Agents, the idea that Tyrann Mathieu is moving on is not what I believe happens. Consider what owner Clark Hunt said in November:
While I’m aware of what Brett Veach said in a recent presser… that stance is protective of the salary cap and if it so happens that Orlando Brown costs too much, as well as other re-signings, then he hasn’t led Chiefs Kingdom astray… if he can’t get Mathieu re-signed under the cap, because it looks like he’ll want the Chiefs to pay up top dollar for his Landlord services.
I think Frank Clark and Jarran reed are history. Reed could be asked back, but only if he takes a reduced amount. If he decides he is worth more on the open market, he’s likely a one-and-done player for K.C.. Clark has consistently under-performed since he came to K.C. in 2019. In three years here (2019-2021), he’s averaged:
- 6.17 sacks per year,
- 29.3 (combined) tackles per year, and
- 15.3 QB Hits per year.
He hasn’t come close to his stats during his previous three seasons (2016-2018) while with the Seahawks when he averaged:
- 10.3 sacks per year,
- 38.6 (combo) tackles per year, and
- 22 QB Hits per year.
Based on his prior performance, Veach gave Frank Clark a 5-year $104M contract. From Charles Goldman at ChiefsWire.com comes an article called, “Will Chiefs S Tyrann Mathieu, DE Frank Clark be back in 2022?” in which he writes:
“Releasing Clark as a post-June 1 cut could
save the Chiefs $19.5 million in cap space.”
Throw in the off field problems he’s had, and keeping him in K.C. this year seems like steep odds, no matter what Clark says about staying here:
“Man, Kansas City is my home. I bought a house here. My daughter goes to school and stuff like that here. It’s home, man. I want to be here for the future, for the rest of my career. But like you said, unfortunately, the way business goes, things don’t happen the way that you want them to happen all the time.”
That fits right in with thoughts by Kendall Capps at ClutchPoints.com. He wrote a piece called, “3 major fixes the Chiefs must make this offseason to win Super Bowl 57” in which he projects three points:
- A defensive end that can rush the passer
- A run-stuffing defensive tackle
- Second wide receiver opposite Tyreek Hill
This comes closest to my list of Chiefs Team Needs so far. Even if K.C. does keep Jarran Reed, they will need to find that huge run stuffing DT. Knowing what we know about Brett Veach, if he can sign a free agent DE, or even trade away this year’s first round pick to get that guy… consider it a done deal. Who might that be? I haven’t gotten into the Free Agent list enough to know those possibilities yet… or even the guys who may be on the trading block.
Here’s a list from Over the Cap of all the Chiefs 2022 Free Agents:
The NFL Cap will be around $208.2M this year which means $25.7M more than in 2021. While that sounds like a lot of cap space to deal with, re-signing all these player, or most all of them, will be a Herculean task, while at the same time piecing together a roster for another championship run. Or at least one that sees Arrowhead hosting their unprecedented 5th AFC Championship game in a row.
My top ten FA priorities for re-signing would be (in order):
- Brown
- Mathieu
- Ingram
- McKinnon
- Ward
- Wylie
- Pringle
- Darrel Williams
- Hughes
- Nnadi
The Chiefs 2022 draft picks look like this so far:
- R1, P30
- R2, P30
- R3, P30
- R3, to be announced
- R4, P30
- R7, P12 (from MIN)
- R7, P21 (from LVR, from NEP)
- R7, P30
What are your team needs priorities?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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