Kansas City Chiefs Free Agency: Where do we stand now?
The past week has been a whirlwind of activity for the Kansas City Chiefs. Some years you have to sit back and let the dust settle before you see your favorite team start making moves and other years they jump right into the action and 2016 was definitely the later in KC. The signings of the past week have had a drastic impact on the roster and we definitely have a better grasp of what the 2016 Chiefs will look like than we did just seven days ago. So have the Chiefs made themselves significantly better? Were there certain signings (or players they missed out on) that will make a major impact? I’ve got some opinions so let’s get right into it.
The Chiefs retain Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali
Just last week someone here at Arrowhead Addict suggested that KC fans should prepare themselves for the possibility that the Chiefs may have to let one or both of these life long Chiefs walk in free agency for business reasons. Now who was it that said that……oh right, it was me. Well, I’m happy to have been wrong on that one. DJ and Tamba are two of my favorite players and the fact that both will now likely play their entire careers in Chiefs red does my heart good.
I’m especially glad to have DJ back because (in my humble opinion) he is still playing at a much higher level than Tamba is. I’m actually only luke-warm on Tamba’s deal. His play seems to have been in decline the past couple of seasons and I’m just not sure his body can handle full time snaps anymore. So Tamba needs to be a rotational player now and they paid him what seems like starter money. Still, the Chiefs roster is better off with theses two players on it than off and the fact that they are sentimental favorites is just icing on the cake.
The Chiefs re-sign Jaye Howard
Of all the moves that caught me off guard thus far this was the one that shocked me the most. I thought Jaye Howard was gone. He’s still young, he played great last season, the Chiefs already gave Allen Bailey a contract and will have to give Dontari Poe one soon, I just didn’t see it in the budget for them to pay another defensive lineman when they had so many other areas to address this offseason. So I was happily surprised to hear that Howard was coming back to KC.
What made this deal even better was that they didn’t have to break the bank to do it. Yes, I was surprised that Howard re-signed, but I was SHOCKED that they were able to do it without breaking the bank. Granted, it’s only a two year deal, but don’t be surprised if Jaye Howard is the best defensive lineman on this team over that two year span (and this is coming from someone who really likes both Bailey and Poe).
This is one of two moves that I would give the Chiefs an A+ grade on so far in free agency.
The other A+ move was……..
Next: Kansas City's Offensive Additions