The Kansas City Chiefs roster is in good shape overall, but the defensive line could still use a little help. Here are five players they could still sign.
The Kansas City Chiefs are widely considered one of the top teams in the NFL. While they may have lost a couple of big-name players this offseason in Tyreek Hill and Tyrann Mathieu, their overall roster is still viewed as one of the best in the league (thanks in large part to Patrick Mahomes). That having been said, while the Chiefs may have added a lot of youth to their defense this offseason, the defensive front is the one spot where they are still a little short on proven players.
Just last week I looked at how the Chiefs’ sack totals look short of what is needed to win a Super Bowl. While most of the big-name free agents that could change have already signed their deals, there are still five free agents that I believe the Chiefs should consider signing before training camp to help sure up their defense. Let’s take a look at who these five players are, starting with number five and working our way up to the top target remaining.
Trey Flowers – Edge
Trey Flowers was a talented young edge player when he hit free agency at the end of his rookie deal with the New England Patriots. As one of the top edge targets in free agency that year, he ended up signing a big 5-year, $90 million dollar deal with the Detroit Lions. Flowers was solid in his first year in Detroit, but injuries have limited him to just 7 games in each of the last two seasons. The 3.5 sacks and 14 games played he’s totaled over those two seasons led to the Lions parting ways with him to clear cap space this offseason.
So far there has been little to no buzz around Flowers this offseason. That could mean that the knee injury that ended his season last year is still an issue. It also means that Flowers could likely be signed to a very team-friendly one-year prove-it deal.
Flowers will turn 29 right before the season starts. If his knee has healed, he has the potential to be a solid veteran rotational player on a cheap contract. At 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds, he has enough size to play both the run and rush the passer in Steve Spagnuolo’s system. He also has a history with K.C.’s (now) linebacker coach Brendan Daly.
While Flowers didn’t produce much last season, his 62.8 Pro Football Focus run defense grade and 61.0 pass-rush grade that he put up while battling injuries still compare well to the 45.0 run defense grade and 64.0 pass-rush grade that Frank Clark received last season. Is Flowers a player that I would want to sign to a big deal or a multi-year deal? No, but if he’ll accept a veteran minimum type of deal with incentives that wouldn’t count against the cap this year he could be a low-risk, high-reward option that could add some depth to KC’s very shallow edge rotation.