The Kansas City Chiefs might win everything and not lose anyone

The Kansas City Chiefs seem to be positioned to win it all without losing a thing.

Every year, the NFL’s less fortunate franchises (or those with self-inflicted wounds known as a toxic culture or poor leadership) are given the opportunity to wipe the slate clean, to start fresh, to import new leaders in order to re-position the team for a brighter future. And every year, the NFL’s elite offer up their coaching staffs and front offices to be picked apart, a sort of off-field parity exercise intended to share the wealth.

This year, seven NFL teams are going to hire new head coaches. Another handful are going to install new general managers. That’s 22 percent of all teams who will be listening to new leaders on the sideline next year—a pretty serious import of new coaching talent.

Somehow in the midst of it all, the Kansas City Chiefs might not lose a single person.

Right now, several members of the Chiefs organization have been linked to multiple positions. Ryan Poles and Brandt Tilis were both interviewed to be the new GM of the Carolina Panthers. Quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka was linked to the Philadelphia Eagles job fairly early after Doug Pederson was fired. Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy deserves his own paragraph.

If you’re reading this, then you likely already know it all, but for the sake of review, Bieniemy wasn’t just labeled co-favorite for the Philly job; he was listed as a potential favorite for several jobs this offseason. Of the seven teams with head coach openings, the Chiefs OC was linked to six of them and had five scheduled interviews. This comes after he interviewed with four teams last offseason and multiple teams two years ago. He’s been the “hot head coaching prospect” for the last three years.

Yet at this point, all momentum for all parties seems to be fading—even for Bieniemy. That’s not to say that changes aren’t coming—and for Bieniemy’s sake, we certainly hope he garners the new job that he clearly deserves with someone—but at this point, it feels as if the tide is turning away from anyone Chiefs affiliated with the Chiefs.

Some doors are already closed. The Panthers went with Scott Fitterer to head up the front office. Two head coaching openings have already been filled within the first active week, as the Jacksonville Jaguars convinced Urban Meyer to make the leap to the pros and the New York Jets were enamored with San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.

From here, the rumors are even trending way from K.C. As of press time, the Atlanta Falcons are hot after Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. The Eagles are interviewing Duce Staley and chasing Brian Daboll. The Houston Texans were late to the Bieniemy party in the first place, and that franchise feels far too toxic for anyone’s health at this point. The Lions loved Smith, too, but they also reportedly like Saints assistant head coach Dan Campbell.

Yes, there are still openings. The L.A. Chargers have been quietly going about their business and Tom Telesco said he would take his time. Myriad openings are waiting to be filled, which means the game of musical chairs will continue for another week or two—maybe more. But at the very least, the Chiefs aren’t going to lose a lot of people and it’s very possible that absolutely no one is asked to leave Arrowhead.

Think about that for a second: the very team who is most favored to win Super Bowl LV, the only one coming off of a Super Bowl victory, the franchise who has become a model of success and stability as the NFL turns the page on another decade, they might not lose a single person to any other losing team. If this happens, that means every other moribund team in the NFL, every basement-dweller, every pitiful franchise wasn’t interested enough in the fruit of the NFL’s greatest tree.

That’s unbelievable.

It might be easier to understand when things are broken down. Each individual hire might make sense within a given context. Certainly the hires thus far have been quality hires. Fitterer has been a solid GM candidate for years. Saleh was a hot head coach-in-waiting last year, too. Teams love the legendary college coach making the leap to the NFL, so Meyer is understandable, too. But on a macro-level, it feels ridiculous that the Chiefs could win it all and not lose a single coach or executive.

As fans, it’s exciting to think that this train could keep rolling with even more continuity and experience than ever. But in the real world, it’s sad to think that some deserving folks aren’t receiving opportunities for one reason or another. Perhaps next year will be different, but at least in terms of Bieniemy, we’ve been saying that for quite some time.

Hopefully the news will eventually roll in that someone from the Chiefs has been rewarded with a new opportunity to spread their wings and fly (that sounds like some generic high school graduation speech). Until then, the Chiefs will hopefully keep things moving and make the idea that no one is hiring their employees away look even more ridiculous.