One year ago, it was an easy call for the Kansas City Chiefs to bring back Mike Remmers.
While the loss in Super Bowl LV was a tough one, and Remmers’ own play in that particular game was not at all good, the Chiefs were coming off of another season of dominating the AFC and Remmers had proven himself to be a significant part of that. His versatility and reliability up front were part of what actually saved the Chiefs in the midst of a sinking ship up front on offense.
If you’ll recall, throughout the 2020 season, the Chiefs continued to lose one offensive line starter after another. From Kelechi Osemele to Mitchell Schwartz to Martinas Rankin to Eric Fisher, the line was decimated by injuries and that was after Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Lucas Niang opted out. Remmers became the glue that would start at left guard and then right tackle for long stretches—fortifying a line held together by duct tape.
This season, however, the decision about how to approach Remmers is not so simple.
Let’s look at the complicated free agent picture of Mike Remmers and what it means for the Kansas City Chiefs’ offseason approach.
This season, Remmers was one of the players ailing this year instead of filling in for them. With the injuries to Niang this season, Remmers would have likely served as the long-term starter outside through the end of the season but he was lost to a knee injury for the second half of the year and never came off of injured reserve once he went on it in mid-November.
In 2020, Remmers started 10 games and appeared in 13. This year, Remmers played in 4. What will that mean for the for the future, then? Let’s take a look at a valuable contributor who might be at a crossroads—at least in Kansas City.
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.
Recommendation
This regime has learned that a team can ill afford to allow injuries along the trenches to seriously impair them, making reliable depth a very real need and not a luxury. The Chiefs built the offensive line that way last season and it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see them do so again
Remmers might be older with health questions, but if the Chiefs find positive answers for those, they should seriously consider bringing him back. His versatility and familiarity make him such an ideal fit if he’s up for another single-season deal. That said, the injury issues and perhaps the chance to coach up younger talent who wouldn’t be on year-to-year deals might be preferred by some. That makes plenty of sense, too.
That said, the recommendation here is for Remmers to come back on an inexpensive one-year deal assuming his health checks out.
Prediction
Remmers was a one-year, $3.3 million signing for the 2021 season, which is twice as much as the Chiefs should spend here. IF the Chiefs can land Remmers at $1.5M or so for one more year, it’s a serious injection of security at several positions. A move worth making.