Before the Kansas City Chiefs can even begin to look at what additions need to be made this offseason they have to decide what to do with five key players.
The Kansas City Chiefs were this close to playing in the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. We won’t relive the agony of their loss to the New England Patriots again today, but the bottom line is that instead of preparing to watch the most meaningful Chiefs game in decades, we were left to watch Patrick Mahomes and some of his teammates participate in the utterly meaningless Pro Bowl. Now we can begin the offseason speculation of what the Chiefs need to do in order to make sure they make the Super Bowl next year.
A major change that was at the top of many Chiefs’ fans list of moves that had to be made happened this past week when the Chiefs parted ways with defensive coordinator Bob Sutton and then hired his replacement, Steve Spagnuolo. While the firing of Sutton has been pretty much unanimously praised, the hiring of Spagnuolo has led to some debate on both sides as to just how good of a hire he was. Ultimately, his success will be tied to what he can get out of the players the Chiefs already have on defense as well as any they decide to add this offseason.
Which brings me to the main point of this post.
I love offseason speculation. I love combing through perspective free agents for players that could be key additions. Yes, the big flashy names are fun to dream about, but sometimes the most satisfying additions are those under the radar signings that end up being a huge steal. Then there is the NFL draft. I love scouting players at positions of need for the Chiefs in hopes of identifying good fits for them in both the early and late rounds.
But here’s the problem: right now I’m having a hard time keying in on what positions the Chiefs should focus on and just how big of players in free agency they will or will not be because of all the in-house questions that they have to answer first.
Maybe more than any recent offseason I believe that their plan of attack will be completely defined by what they decide to do with five key players from their 2018 roster. Their commitment to or perhaps parting of ways with these players will set their biggest roster needs and the financial means that they have to fill them. So before we can have those meaningful discussions about free agency and the draft, we need to look at just what the Chiefs have planned for the players already on their roster.
We know that a year from now, the Chiefs will likely begin working on a franchise record deal for Patrick Mahomes. Before that time comes though they have a small window to try and secure a Super Bowl winning roster with the benefit of a star quarterback on a rookie deal. That makes the stakes of these moves all the higher.
Let’s start by looking at the two current Chiefs who they reportedly want to extend this offseason.