Would You, Could You? Chiefs Fans, 2·23·21

Would You, Could You? Chiefs Fans, 2·23·21 – With NFL Free Agency coming up in a few weeks, and the NFL 2021 Draft not far behind, it’s time to act and think like a GM, specifically like Brett Veach. He and Head Coach Andy Reid have a lot of questions to answer, perhaps more questions than in any other season since Reid made his first appearance here in January of 2013. Questions like:

• Do we take the #runitback approach to the roster and keep as many players as possible from the previous roster?
• How do we “refurbish” the Offensive Line without LT Eric Fisher and RT Mitchell Schwartz (if he can’t go) while strengthening the IOL?
• Do we make trades using our stockpile of talented players or lower salaries and sign Free Agents and/or just depend on the draft?

Answering questions like those will go a long ways towards revealing what kind of team the Chiefs will have in 2021. Let’s take a look at some players who may be in the mix for those kinds of conversations:

As soon as Super Bowl LIV ended, the first player who came to mind when I began to think about who the MVP might be, was RB Damien Williams. DWill had 104 yards rushing with 29 receiving yards that day plus over 6.2 yards per carry. He also provided a 38 yard TD run late which sealed the contest. Why bring all that up? Simply because it looks like K.C. has already moved on without him and since he has another year on his contract, the question then becomes, does he have any trade value? I assume GMs across the league saw what we all saw in that Super Bowl victory. A man who could have been named MVP. Let me make it perfectly clear, I love Damien WIlliams and hope he becomes Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s primary backup… if… he remains a Chief. I realize that DWill may only bring a late round pick in the draft, but other teams should be willing to cough that kind of draft capital up for him. Remember, Veach and Co. got L’Jarius Sneed with a 4th round pick in last year’s draft. A player who was ranked in the top ten in a re-draft of the 2020 NFL Draft by more than one service. Plus, if K.C. trades DWill, his $1.85M – 2021 salary comes off the books. Would You, Could You?

A lot of noise is being made about the ineffectiveness of Frank Clark. While I’m not one of those people, it’s apparent that Clark’s salary is an albatross for the Chiefs and that must be dealt with this offseason. When Brett veach traded for then signed Clark to a 5 year, $104,000,000 contract back in the offseason of 2019 right before that draft, he had no idea that Covid-19 would rule the year of 2020. Like most big deals GMs make with a player, the deal gets bigger as the contract develops (times goes by). If the Chiefs were to cut Clark this offseason they’d be stuck with a $28.5M Cap Hit. I maintain that Clark is double-teamed a high percentage of the time and has much less room to maneuver from the outside as a DE than a player like Chris Jones who can bounce around inside anywhere between the Tackles. Clark also sets a firm edge against the run forcing most running plays inside. You only need to think back a could of seasons when Dee Ford, and to a lesser degree, Justin Houston, had problems setting the edge (mostly because they were used as rush OLBs). So, the question is, would you restructure Frank Clark. Or is that even possible?

Mecole Hardman was drafted in 2019 in the 2nd round with 56th pick in the same year that Frank Clark was traded for and the Chiefs gave away their first round pick to make that happen. If you’ll recall, Tyreek Hill’s status was up in the air at the time and so bringing in the speedy Hardman was thought to be timely. Afterall, Veach and Reid weren’t going to get caught with their pants down on Offense. Hardman turned in a solid rookie year and was named to the Pro Bowl as a returner. However, he had 538 receiving yards his first year and only added 22 more yards to that number in 2020 and developed a propensity to not only drop punts but run backwards. That said, his status as a potential #2 WR and solid kick returner means he has some value as a trade piece for Veach. Would You, Could You, trade Mecole Hardman knowing that the Chiefs can replace him in this draft? There also the growing perception that no matter who QB Patrick Mahomes is throwing too, those WRs are going to excel. There may also be enough interest in Hardman to get a quality OL back in return. In that case… Would You Could You?

Safety Juan Thornhill came to the Chiefs in the same draft as Mecole Hardman, pick #63. Thornhill had a great rookie year and made the Pro Football Writers All Rookie Team. While Thornhill was injured late in the 2019 and had to watch his teammates win the Super Bowl while he sat and watched, his 2020 season was a work in progress and he returned to his 2019 form late in the 2020 season. His value may be at an all time high and if Kansas City wants to rebuild — err, refurbish — the OL, they might want to consider moving on from Thornhill. With the strength of the Chiefs coaching staff apparently the DB coaches — Dave Merrett and Sam Madison — the Chiefs could replace Thornhill with a draft pick this year and take a big step towards bolstering the weakest link: the OL. Would You, Could You?

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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