3. Anthony Hitchens
This one may be controversial to some Chiefs fans, but to me, the Anthony Hitchens signing was a mistake. When a team signs a linebacker to a 5-year, $45 million contract with over $20 million guaranteed, you would expect him to be a well-above-average player. But Hitchens was never that in Kansas City.
Hitchens was one of the most important leaders for the successful Super Bowl run in 2019-20. He also served as a mentor to young bucks like Willie Gay and Nick Bolton and sported the green dot on his helmet as the “signal caller” on defense most of the time while in K.C.
Even though he played an important role outside off-the-field, this signing is one that will not reflect well on Veach. Hitchens earned a horrendous 37.5 PFF overall defensive grade ($) his first year as a Chief in 2018. Yes, a lot of that can be explained by not being a great fit with Bob Sutton. Under Steve Spagnuolo in 2019, 2020, and 2021, he earned slightly better grades of 44.4, 49.7, and 52.2, respectively. Despite the poor season grades, against the Bengals in the 2022 AFC Championship, his last game as a Chief turned out to be his highest-graded game as a Chief at an elite 92.3 overall.
This may be a spicy take for a lot of fans to include him on this list, but in my opinion, Hitchens did not live up to his contract. His average cap hit across his four years in Kansas City was about $8 million, good enough for approximately 15th among linebackers in AAV today. Did Hitchens play like a top-15 linebacker in Kansas City? To me, he did not. The Chiefs do owe a lot to him for the leadership role he played but he was not worth the contract he signed for the Chiefs in terms of on-field production alone.
Do you agree with the three players I selected? Which free agent signings did I leave off the list? Feel free to let me know in the comment section or on Twitter (@StrozinskyLucas).