KC Chiefs free agent profile: Mike Remmers is worth keeping tabs on
By Matt Conner
Why bring him back?
When healthy, Remmers is a super-sub, the sort of sixth man that most NFL teams would love to have. The Chiefs unearthed a gold nugget, so to speak, when they were first able to sign him to a one-year deal heading into 2020. Not only did he provide some reliable reps in a pinch but he did so at several positions.
Coming into his tenure at K.C., Remmers had years of experience starting at right tackle and another full season of experience at right guard. He’s also proven himself adept at left guard and he’s stepped outside on occasion at left tackle. While the results were miserable in Super Bowl 50, he was also hardly equipped to handle a role thrust upon him in short order on the biggest stage of all.
To bring back Remmers, if healthy, is to bring back a player who can potentially sub at four positions—and three of them very well. He’s experienced in the system and knows the coaches, the team, the demands.
Why let him leave?
Letting Remmers walk in free agency would be a decision based on a larger strategy of what to do at the position of right tackle. Lucas Niang is a former third round pick who opted out in 2020 but returned in 2021 to show enough tape that he could be a solid starter opposite Orlando Brown Jr. for years to come. However, he was also injured for multiple stretches. Can the Chiefs roll with Niang as the de facto starter going forward?
If the Chiefs like Niang as a potential starter who should slot into swing tackle until he proves he’s ready for more, then Remmers is more expendable here. The Chiefs have Nick Allegretti inside, too, and decisions to make on Kyle Long, Andrew Wylie, and Austin Blythe. Viewing Remmers primarily as a tackle, it makes little sense to bring back Remmers if Niang is going to play the swing tackle role, especially with Prince Tega Wanogho and/or Roderick Johnson also around.
It should also be noted that at the age of 33 next season and coming off of injury, Remmers could be closer to calling it a career than we realize.