ESPN knocks Kansas City Chiefs offseason approach

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell didn’t care for the Chiefs offseason approach.

The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t supposed to enjoy a sexy offseason. Anyone who had expectations for the defending Super Bowl champions to draft a household name or sign a big-money free agent wasn’t paying any attention to the way the Chiefs were constructed. The Chiefs were deep and talented, and the only real moves expected by the team concerned just how many of their own they were going to be able to retain.

In his rundown of how each team fared this offseason, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell ranked the Chiefs at No. 21 overall. The Houston Texans earned the score for the worst overall offseason at No. 32 which places the Chiefs squarely in the bottom half of all teams and on the verge of being in the bottom third.

Barnwell applauded a few moves and cried foul over others, but here were his main points when discussing the lower score, beginning with the recent legal troubles around cornerback Bashaud Breeland:

"Breeland was arrested at gunpoint on May 1. Watkins is still earning nearly $9 million with the chance to earn $6 million more in incentives in 2020, which is a lot for a player who had been ordinary during his first two seasons in Kansas City before breaking out during the postseason. The team also didn’t resolve Jones’ future with a trade or a long-term contract, meaning it’s likely to end up getting one more year out of him before losing him as a free agent in 2021."

While the Breeland news is not good, it’s also linked to a suspension of a few games at this point and the legal process is going to play out for some time here. Beyond that, the idea that the re-signing of Watkins was part of the “What Went Wrong?” section is baffling. Watkins was electric for K.C. when it mattered most and showed what he can do when Tyreek Hill went down early in the year.

Despite his pay grade, there’s not enough account of his play grade here as well. Is there a Super Bowl win without Watkins? I don’t think so. For the Chiefs to be able to bring him back on a restructured deal and “run it back” is the perfect move in a limited offseason of this sort. Questions surrounded the team’s ability to keep Demarcus Robinson, Chris Jones, or Watkins—let alone all three.

Now the Chiefs are completely reloaded with the very roster that won the Super Bowl just months ago in an offseason where any new import for any team—vet or rookie—has little time to acclimate. First-time head coaches are going to struggle while the Chiefs can simply put every piece back where they last found it.

While the headlines weren’t flashy and the substance was boring, it’s hard to imagine the Chiefs having a better offseason than they did.