A Kansas City Chiefs fan’s guide to start of NFL free agency

Quarterbacks

The Chiefs obviously don’t need to spend a lot of time and resources on the quarterback position with Patrick Mahomes locked in as their starter for the next decade. However, backup quarterback Chad Henne is a free agent. That leaves only Shane Buechele on the roster behind Mahomes. Even if KC really likes Buechele as a developmental guy, I can’t see them entering the season without a backup option with some NFL experience.

My guess is that once the Chiefs free up some cap space they will re-sign Henne to a cheap deal. If not, the only other free agent with connections to KC and/or Andy Reid that jumps off the page is Chase Daniel. I would be fine with that move, but I don’t know that it’s enough of an upgrade over Henne to be worth paying more for if Daniel would warrant a larger cap number.

Tight End

Another position where there might be a little move, but nothing major is tight end. Both veteran Blake Bell and wide receiver convert Jody Fortson are free agents. The Chiefs still have All-Pro Travis Kelce and last year’s rookie Noah Gray locked up. The Chiefs will definitely bring a couple more guys in, but I wouldn’t expect any splash signings here. In fact, re-signing Bell and Fortson may be their preferred option. Fortson showed promise as a receiver option and Bell fills the blocking tight end roll in the offense.

If the Chiefs don’t bring one or both of those two back, look for them to make signings at the position that aren’t household names, but fill rolls as a blocker or special teams contributor. You can dream of them signing Rob Gronkowski or some other big name to pair with Kelce if you want, but I think Andy Reid’s track record at this point proves that just isn’t a priority to him.

Next, let’s talk about the offensive line for a minute.