KC Chiefs sign Isiah Pacheco, Darian Kinnard to rookie deals

Two more members from the Kansas City Chiefs draft class of 2022 are now under contract. NFL reporter Field Yates has word that both running back Isiah Pacheco and offensive lineman Darian Kinnard have signed their first official contracts and are now locked up for the next four years.

Pacheco was selected in the seventh round by the Chiefs out of Rutgers in between two defensive backs: Jaylen Watson of Washington State and Nazeeh Johnson of Marshall. Before the draft, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach had stated how much he liked the assortment of late-round running backs in this year’s rookie class and he grabbed Pacheco as evidence that he found someone he liked when the Chiefs were on the board.

The Kansas City Chiefs got two more players officially under contract from their 2022 NFL draft class.

The Chiefs have Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Ronald Jones as their top two backs on the depth chart, but there’s definitely room and opportunity for Pacheco to make some noise in training camp for some of the

reps there on the active roster despite being such a late-round pick. The Chiefs did bring back Derrick Gore for another season and Brendan Knox is also around, but Pacheco’s skill set would be a nice fit with others in Andy Reid’s offense.

As for Kinnard, he was the Chiefs’ fifth-round selection and they traded up 13 spots to get him at No. 145 overall. Kinnard is a long-term starter at right tackle from the University of Kentucky and he should immediately compete for starter’s reps at the same position for K.C. The good news is that there’s no reason for the Chiefs to force him into any role given that they already have starting options in Andrew Wylie and Lucas Niang returning in ’22.