The Kansas City Chiefs had an eventful last week. To the shock of most of Chiefs Kingdom, KC traded away star wideout Tyreek Hill, but after the move, they made several more signings as well.
The end result is that the KC roster now has fewer holes, but is also down in total star power. So as we move forward from here, where exactly should General Manager Brett Veach focus his attention?
I still believe Veach has more work to do in free agency. With a little luck, by the time you are reading this, maybe the Chiefs will have acquired a few more pieces to fill some of these needs. There has been some buzz online that the Chiefs are interested in both free-agent cornerback Stephon Gilmore and New York Giants corner James Bradberry.
Either one of those players would help fill one of KC’s biggest remaining holes (as you’ll see in a minute). They also hosted free agent Arden Key who would provide some much-needed pass rush help, but as of this writing, nothing has been announced with him.
The Chiefs obviously have a ton of picks in the upcoming NFL Draft after the Tyreek Hill trade. In the past, Brett Veach has not liked to enter the draft with major holes that have to be filled.
Veach prefers to be able to target the highest-rated players available instead of reaching for a specific position because he’s forced to fill a need in the starting lineup. Could that change with all the draft picks they have? We’ll have to wait and see, but I still think the Chiefs have signings that will happen between now and the draft even if it’s just finalizing something with the players I listed above.
So based on the current state of the roster, where do the Chiefs still have holes that must be filled? Well, let’s break down the roster from positions that I believe are now set and working towards the positions where the Chiefs still have huge glaring needs.
Positions That Are Set
There are now several positions where I don’t expect the Chiefs to add anyone else, either in free agency or the draft other than possibly some camp bodies.
Quarterback – The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes as their star quarterback, Chad Henne as his veteran backup, and Shane Buechele as a developmental guy. Maybe they’ll bring in an undrafted quarterback to compete with Buechele and be another camp arm, but that’s about it.
Fullback – The Chiefs brought back Michael Burton and that should be enough for a position with limited use in the offense.
Tight End – The Chiefs have star tight end Travis Kelce, young pass-catching options in Jodie Fortson and Noah Gray, and veteran blocking tight end Blake Bell all under contract. They even have some other options for training camp (like Matt Bushman), so I wouldn’t expect anything else to happen here.
Offensive Line (other than Right Tackles) – The Chiefs are almost set at offensive line with Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Noah Wylie, Lucas Niang, Austin Reiter, Nick Allegretti, and Geron Christian you could make a case that those are the linemen that will likely make the final 53 man roster. The one spot they may still look to add some long-term competition at is right tackle. Everything else is set for this season.
Kicker – Harrison Butker is under contract for three more seasons, has been a good kicker, and KC would have a $1.4 million dead money cap hit if they cut him. He’ll be the kicker again this season.
Speaking of right tackle, let’s talk about the positions where the Chiefs don’t have glaring holes, but could still look to upgrade or add competition.
Positions Where KC Could Still Upgrade If They Want To
The positions on this list don’t have massive glaring holes. If the season started today the Chiefs could fill out the position with the players they already have and be okay.
That having been said, the Chiefs are still lacking something at all these positions. That could be that the starters there are just “okay”, it could be that they lack quality depth, or it could be that they are getting old at the position and could stand to add someone young that could be more of a long term answer.
Running Back – The Chiefs have two options that have started games in Clyde Edwards-Helaire and newly signed Robert Jones. After that, they have Derrick Gore and Darwin Thompson to fill out their depth. That’s not a terrible running back group, but they could stand to add a quality third-down back either in free agency or the draft.
Right Tackle – As I mentioned in the previous offensive line section, the Chiefs are about set on the offensive line for next year. However, with Lucas Niang’s health a question mark, Andrew Wylie more a stopgap starting option/depth player, and swing tackle Geron Christian profiling as more of a left tackle the Chiefs have room to add a possible long term right tackle option. They don’t have to add anyone, but if someone was available in the mid-rounds of the draft they should definitely consider it.
Defensive Tackle – The Chiefs have Chris Jones as the anchor of their defensive front and several other role players that can rotate there too in Derrick Nnadi, Tershawn Wharton, Khalen Saunders, and Andrew Billings. That’s enough to fill out the position for the season, but if someone was available cheap in free agency or the draft there is still room to upgrade this spot.
Linebacker – The Chiefs’ top two linebackers this season should be Nick Bolton and Willie Gay Jr. They had lots of snaps to replace with the losses of Anthony Hitchens and Ben Niemann. The Chiefs have signed Jermaine Carter and Elijah Lee so far this offseason. With those two and Darius Harris that may give the Chiefs enough at the position to get by, but once again there is still room for improvement here, especially at the #3 linebacker spot.
Safety – The Chiefs have a solid safety group already with Juan Thornhill, Justin Reid, Deon Bush, Zayne Anderson, and Devon Key. The question is if KC sees Bush/Anderson/Key as up to the job of playing the snaps Dan Sorensen played the previous few seasons or if they see them more as just special teams/depth players. Bush may be their Sorensen replacement, but it’s not impossible that they target someone with higher upside in the draft.
Punter – Tommy Townsend is fine and I don’t know that with bigger issues to address the Chiefs should be on the market for an upgrade here. Townsend is in the last year of his deal and could be cut without any significant cap hit so if the Chiefs had a clear-cut upgrade fall in their lap it could be an option.
Now let’s move to the top three biggest holes on the roster.
Biggest Hole #3 – Wide Receiver
Some fans might be surprised to see wide receiver at #3 on this list after losing Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. However, the Chiefs have Juju Smith-Schuster, Marques Valdez-Scantling, and Mecole Hardman already in place at the position. Is that enough? No, but I would argue it is a better top three at the position than KC currently has at the top two positions on this list.
After those first three names that we know will contribute the Chiefs have a ton of guys that are capable of fighting for a roster spot, but aren’t guaranteed anything. Those guys include: Josh Gordon, Corey Coleman, Daurice Fountain, Gehrig Dieter, and Cornell Powell. Could any of those guys make the roster? Sure, but I don’t think it’s safe to count on any of them to contribute.
That means that the Chiefs need at least one more player talented enough to be a regular contributor. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they added two more options. With this wide receiver class it certainly makes sense that they would add a receiver in the first two rounds of the draft. The Chiefs have also been linked to Jacksonville Jaguars wideout Laviska Shenault. A trade for someone of that caliber would also make sense and still wouldn’t stop them from targeting someone in the draft.
The Chiefs aren’t ever going to find someone to replace Tyreek Hill all by themselves, so they’ll have to do it by committee. In order to do that the Chiefs need more weapons in the wide receiver group than what they currently have. That is why wide receiver is the number three hole on this roster right now.
Next up, the second-biggest hole on the roster.
Biggest Hole #2 – Cornerback
In today’s NFL teams need three starting cornerbacks and a fourth guy they can count on to play lots of snaps if someone is hurt. Right now the Chiefs have L’Jarius Sneed and Rashad Fenton and then a few guys that could compete for the 4th or 5th spot on the depth chart. They definitely don’t have a third starting cornerback yet, and frankly, I’m not super confident in Deandre Baker to be the first man off the bench after he couldn’t beat out Mike Hughes last season.
Hopefully, sometime shortly after I write this the Chiefs announce they’ve either signed Stephon Gilmore or traded for James Bradberry. If/when that happens I would move this position down a spot and slide wide receiver up to the clear number two spot. However, because they need a 4th corner I wouldn’t move it out of the top three even with one of those additions.
If I was the Chiefs I would absolutely acquire a starting veteran corner AND draft one in the first three rounds of the draft. A cornerback group of Gilmore or Bradberry, Sneed, Fenton, a rookie draft pick, and then a battle between Baker, Dicaprio Bootle, and Jaq Borcoo for the 5th spot would be ideal.
Now let’s talk about the #1 biggest hole on KC’s roster.
Biggest Hole #1 – Edge
One of the weakest spots on the Chiefs’ defense last season was the edge position. They got a little boost there down the stretch when they added Melvin Ingram, but overall the position was a disappointment.
So what has KC done about it so far, well they kept Frank Clark on a reduced contract and currently, Melvin Ingram is a free agent. That means that the Chiefs are currently worse at edge than they were last year when it was one of the weakest spots on the defense. That’s not good.
The Chiefs reportedly hosted Arden Key for a free agent visit last week, but as of writing this, he hasn’t signed yet. Even if he has signed when you’re reading this he is just one piece. Key can get pressure from multiple spots on the defensive front, but he’s not even a clear upgrade over Ingram (other than he’s younger). I think you could argue that even with Key the Chiefs might need two more edge additions.
The Chiefs also have Mike Danna and Josh Kaindoh, but they’re more reserve/rotational players at this point. Maybe Kaindoh can develop into more, but I don’t think you can rely on that for this season. Frankly, Clark is more of a rotational piece at this point as well. So the Chiefs have three rotational players and a developmental guy in Malik Herring.
If they really want to be significantly upgraded at this position from last year they need a minimum of two starting-caliber players added to the roster (maybe even three). That’s why this is by far the biggest hole on the Chiefs roster right now. Even if they have signed Arden Key by the time you read this, it still may be KC’s biggest need. At most, it would slide to #2 behind cornerback if they haven’t added a veteran starter there yet.
So what do you think Chiefs fans? Do you agree with this assessment of KC’s roster at this point? Are there any positions that you think I’m off base on? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.