Kansas City Chiefs offense could benefit from re-signing Kelvin Benjamin

The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of reliable players on offense coming off a historic season, but keeping Benjamin could make them even better.

The Buffalo Bills made a surprising move when they released wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin in the first week of December. Two days after his release, Benjamin signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Benjamin only appeared in three games and was a healthy scratch in both postseason games for the Chiefs, pulling in two receptions for 26 yards in his limited time with the team.

The fifth-year Florida State grad got off to a great start in his NFL career after catching 73 passes for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns. After missing all of 2015, Benjamin’s numbers took a dip in 2016 as he had only 63 receptions for 951 yards and seven touchdowns.

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After playing well in 2014 and 2016, Benjamin declined throughout the rest of his career. After being let go by the Carolina Panthers, Benjamin tried to rebound after a trade to Buffalo under head coach Sean McDermott. However, Benjamin’s statistics hit career lows, which led to a midseason release from the Bills in 2018.

Benjamin is now with his third NFL team since 2014. He knows he has the potential to be good, given what he did his rookie season, but he also needs to be surrounded by the right teammates and coaches. Kansas City is the perfect spot for Benjamin to turn his NFL career around.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has always been known to get players to reach their potential—and sometimes play above it. Given that the Chiefs have wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins and tight end Travis Kelce, it would be a tall order for Benjamin to have numbers similar from his rookie season. But it’s also no secret that quarterback Patrick Mahomes would have an easy time getting him the football after distributing the football to 16 different players in 2018.

Benjamin can spend time on an offense with plenty of firepower and become a part of the offense as a key member of the receiving corp. If Watkins or Hill get hurt, Benjamin can step in to help complement the other receiver.

Watkins was in a similar situation coming into Kansas City. After a great start to his career, he regressed and injuries slowed him down. He joined a Chiefs offense, which has Kelce and Hill, that put little pressure on him. Instead of being relied upon as a primary receiver, this allowed Watkins to be a key receiver on a loaded offense.

The scene for Benjamin could be similar in Kansas City, if he stays. With Kelce as the tight end and Hill and Watkins as the primary wide receivers, Benjamin can be used as a viable extra option for Mahomes in certain situations.

We witnessed a dynamic offense in 2018 as Mahomes threw 50 touchdown passes and more than 5,000 passing yards. Keeping Benjamin and giving him a full offseason to work with would allow him to work with Mahomes as he spends time learning the Chiefs offense. Worst case scenario, if an injury hits Watkins again or Hill, the Chiefs could use Benjamin as a suitable replacement.

The Chiefs offense has little to fix this offseason. Keeping Benjamin and spending time getting him up to speed on the offense this offseason would nearly promise another vibrant year for the Chiefs offense in 2019.