The K.C. Chiefs made a big splash on the first day of free agency by signing former New England Patriots Joe Thuney and a few other signings like Kyle Long and Blake Bell, but they haven’t done much in the past couple days. Quality free agents are starting to dry up. It’s still important to acknowledge that this team has a lot of holes and while we do still have the draft, it’s not exactly ideal to be banking on every single draft pick made to step in and contribute on day one.
With that being said, there are a handful of free agency moves that the Chiefs can still make in order to feel more comfortable heading into the draft.
Sign a Wide Receiver
The Chiefs still desperately need help at wide receiver, and they will likely still pursue it after they missed out on JuJu Smith-Schuster, who returned to Pittsburgh on a 1-year deal. The reason they need a wide receiver, is because their depth behind Tyreek Hill is questionable. For reference, the Chiefs had 25 receiving touchdowns by a wide receiver last season, and Tyreek Hill was responsible for 15 of them (60%). However, the Chiefs are losing five of those touchdowns in free agency with Sammy Watkins and Demarcus Robinson, which means that, as of right now, Hill is 75% of the Chiefs scoring production at wide receiver.
Mecole Hardman and Byron Pringle are decent players, but they both have their deficiencies. They just aren’t WR2s. The Chiefs need an X receiver or a depth receiver because they are a Tyreek Hill Injury away from full blown disaster mode.
Acouple names still out there are Rams wide receiver Josh Reynolds and Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton. Both of them are decently productive players and both of them are more dependable than Sammy Watkins, and that’s basically what it comes down to. Either one of them would ease some concerns and allow you to draft a wide receiver a little bit later.
Sign a Defensive End (Melvin Ingram?)
Another horse that’s been beat to death is that the Chiefs pass rush needs help. I have criticized Frank Clark over and over again, but the bottom line is that he isn’t going anywhere. The least the Chiefs can do is help him and Chris Jones by adding another serious threat on the edge.
We’ve already learned that the Chiefs are bringing in former Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram next week and could sign him, and that move would be perfect. Yes, Ingram isn’t built like your prototypical long, stout defensive end that coordinator Steve Spagnuolo likes, but at at this point, you need a speed rusher on the edge that can be a threat on third down, one who is an upgrade from Alex Okafor.
Ingram had above a 70.0 overall pass-rushing grade according to PFF last season, and that ranked better than anyone on the Chiefs. Ingram only played 7 games last year which may be a concern to some as he reaches his mid-thirties, but the hope would be that the Chiefs draft another defensive end to eventually take over and rotate with Ingram. That could take the pressure off Ingram and allow him to play in a role more ideal for his age.