Chiefs: “Do That to Me One More Time”

Ladner Morse

The old Captain & Tennille song captures the idea that many Kansas City Chiefs fans have had since they beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57 on Sunday evening. Back in February of 2020, the last time the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, they moved forward the next year on a “Run It Back” campaign in which they attempted to keep as many of the same players as possible… which… turned out to be a nightmare and QB Patrick Mahomes could be seen diving every which way attempting to connect on one of his passes with one of his receivers… mostly because of an OL that couldn’t stop a common kitchen faucet running. Only, it didn’t work the second time around. At all.

So, do these Chiefs follow the same “Run It Back” script and attempt to keep most of the same players that helped win Super Bowl 57? Or, do they follow this last off-season’s process? Remember, that’s when they traded away one of the best WRs in Tyreek Hill, cut their starting MLB in Anthony Hitchens, and allowed their Pro Bowl Safety to walk in Tyrann Mathieu. As well as other roster emptying moves.

To keep the roster as is, probably means:

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• Re-signing LT Orlando Brown Jr. to a multi-year deal, unless they decide to franchise him again

• Re-upping DT Chris Jones, unless he decides he wants to be paid the highest IDL salary in the NFL

• Re-signing WR JuJu Smith-Schuster to a multi-year contract, making JuJu their #1 WR

• Returning both RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire and WR Mecole Hardman, although I see no reason to do that

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All those moves must be made while GM Brett Veach (and HC Andy Reid) decides what to do with the salary cap issues he has. Although, it’s reported by Charles Goldman at ChiefsWire that the Chiefs have the 13th most salary cap heading into the 2023 season:

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“The Chiefs are expected to be in the top half of the league in total cap space next season. They’ll have some dead money coming off of the books and they’ve rolled over around $3 million in salary cap space. Current projections from OverTheCap at the new $224.8 million cap have the team at 13th in the NFL with just under $14 million in cap space.”

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Moving on from their key players

While it sounds like the Chiefs can just follow the “Run It Back” scheme they tried in the 2020 offseason, it seems to make more sense for them to move on from some of their (projected) high salaried employees. Like Chris Jones. There will never be another time when Chris Jones trade-able value is higher than it will be this offseason. Is CJ the next Aaron Donald? Yes. However, look what the Rams are doing… which means, they finished the 2022 season at 5-and-12, are picking 6th in the coming draft, and didn’t make the playoffs. Aaron Donald is the only other IDL who has averaged .79 Sacks Per Game (along with Chris Jones)… so… does CJ deserve a huge contract? Yes. I’m just not sure the Chiefs will be the ones who can give it to him.

You may be upset with the idea of moving on from Chris Jones… but… look at what the Defensive Lines meant in the Super Bowl. The Eagles had the best DL in the league, but they produced zero sacks. Max Forde of the 33rdteam.com ranked the playoff defensive lines and the Chiefs came in at #8 overall. The Eagles came in at #2, with the 49ers ranking first overall among playoff teams. The point is, the Chiefs may have the most important position covered in Patrick Mahomes and all other outstanding performers may just need to decide if they want to ride his coat-tails, or not?

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Sure, the Chiefs will need to decide which players will be their core players, and which will not. However, Patrick Mahomes is going to get whatever he asks for, and the rest of the team will just have to decide if they want to stick around. Or not. It sounds like the Chiefs may need to move one from key core players, except Travis Kelce, who has made it clear he intends on sticking around for the remainder of his career.

While it makes sense for Kelce to stick around, other players who aren’t directly engaged with Mahomes on (and off) the field, may feel different. After all, we’ve heard so many players say, “I have to think about my family, and that means future generations.” I get it and suppose I’d do the same… follow the money, that is.

Mahomes Bonus money can be re-worked and having the 13th most cap space among all teams, means the Chiefs are on a winning tract to keep the band together as much as possible. The Chiefs have the right man (men) for the job in Brett Veach and his crew. It’s amazing when you think about how much the Chiefs were in the midst of “re-tooling” or “re-building” (or whatever you want to call it) process… and… they then go out and win the Super Bowl (for the second time in four years). “Something is rotten in Denmark” –> and this is the opposite of that.

The Chiefs draft picks for this 2023 NFL Draft, which they are hosting, looks like this according to Rich Hill at DrafTek:

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While there is some information I’ve found that says the pick for Ryan Poles is supposed to go the the NY Giants for Kadarius Toney, I’m unsure of what may have happened to the Chiefs own 3rd rounder. I’m also unclear as to why K.C. might own five (5) 7th round selections.

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Compensatory Analysis

From NFL.com comes:

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“The Chiefs lost four qualifying free agents but signed three. The contract cross-outs left [Jarran] Reed as a departure who will bring a seventh-rounder. Kansas City will also land its second third-round pick for the Chicago Bears hiring Ryan Poles as GM.”

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The Chiefs pick at the 31st overall (instead of 32nd) selection because Miami has lost their rights to their first round pick.

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If K.C. want to “Run It Back” as they say, it looks like they can do that. They may have to do that without either CEH or Mecole Hardman, but there’s not going to be much love lost there. The question is not so much, “Can the Chiefs sustain their run with these players?” as it is, “Do they want to?”

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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