Chiefs rumors: KC mentioned as destination for Anquan Boldin

The Kansas City Chiefs have been mentioned as a team that could use the red zone prowess of wide receiver Anquan Boldin.

Even at the age of 36, Anquan Boldin still showed he had plenty to offer NFL teams last season. In fact, he’s someone we’ve brought up before, as a free agent option the Kansas City Chiefs could consider. Yet we’re the only ones who apparently think so, as Dan Pizzuta from NumberFire also has listed the Chiefs as a potential destination for Boldin, who somehow is still available as a free agent.

There’s not a lot of guaranteed targets to go around these days in K.C. given how often the team relies on passes to the halfback and tight end, meaning that Travis Kelce and the combo of Spencer Ware and Kareem Hunt will see plenty of targets. This doesn’t even mention the increased use of Tyreek Hill on offense this year, something Andy Reid has already said he’s planning, and the presence of Jeremy Maclin.

It might seem weird to think of the Chiefs making a move for a veteran given the presence of those players in addition to their attempts to develop their own talent, including Chris Conley, DeMarcus Robinson, Albert Wilson, Jehu Chesson and plenty of other camp bodies. However, Pizzuta has a good grip on the Chiefs offensive needs and has a solid argument. He writes:

"The Kansas City Chiefs were quietly one of the league’s worst red zone offenses in 2016. For a team known to avoid turnovers, they made a lot of mistakes inside the 20. They turned the ball over on 4.2 percent of their red zone plays, while no other team did so on more than 2.4 percent. That rate was also more than double their turnover rate on all plays, which was just 1.7 percent."

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He continues to say that Kelce, Conley and others failed to provide good red zone targets, the very sort of thing that Boldin just happens to excel at. In a second, Boldin can create excellent separation as an experienced physical receiver, and given how quickly the Chiefs get the ball out, it’s almost guaranteed that Boldin could put up solid numbers for the Chiefs, even if the targets aren’t many.

Even in his 14th NFL season. Boldin started 16 games for the Detroit Lions last year and caught 70.5% of his targets from Matthew Stafford, good for 67 catches for 584 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns. He has an incredible 82 touchdowns receptions in his career. That’s six more than Tony Gonzalez, who holds the Chiefs record at 76. As for a receiver, no one comes close in Chiefs history to Boldin’s total. Otis Taylor has the most for a wideout at 57.

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It’s possible that including Boldin at this point brings too many supposed cooks into the kitchen, to the point where it might stifle the growth curve for or more of the young receivers, but the Chiefs are in win-now mode with a roster that’s right for having Super Bowl dreams. It’s a worthy trade to have a dependable red zone target like Boldin given their ability to win now even it if hurst a player like Chesson and his ability to grow in the offense.

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