Is Andrew Wylie in his final season with the Kansas City Chiefs?

Offensive lineman Andrew Wylie is approaching his sixth season with the Kansas City Chiefs. After going undrafted in 2017, he had brief practice squad stints with the Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Los Angeles Chargers during the 2017 season before finding a long-term home in Kansas City.

Wylie has seen consistent playing time over the past four seasons, seeing at least 700 offensive snaps every year since 2017, including a career-high 1,174 in 2020, per Pro Football Focus ($). He’s never been a high-level player for Andy Heck’s offensive line but he has been a versatile depth player who has been asked to start for a good portion of his career. He’s seen action at right guard, left guard, and right tackle, with right guard (1,943) and right tackle (921) leading the way in terms of snaps.

Andrew Wylie isn’t Mitchell Schwartz but he has given the Chiefs a lot of quality snaps throughout his career. In my opinion, Wylie is more of a run-blocker lineman than a pass-protector. According, to PFF ($), he earned a very respectable run-blocking grade of 70.4 in 2021 but managed a slightly below-average 56.2 pass-blocking grade for an overall grade of 62.3 last season (with 60.0 considered average”). Despite the recent struggles in the passing game, Wylie did give the Chiefs a very good pass protection grade of 78.4 and a Pass Blocking Efficiency of 98.1% in the 2019 regular season.

Andrew Wylie is an unrestricted free agent after the 2022 season. With all of the young talent on the roster, will leave Kansas City next year?

100% of Andrew Wylie’s snaps last season came at right tackle, both in relief and overtaking of Lucas Niang. After only seeing 4 snaps on offense through the first eight weeks of the season, he took over the starting right tackle spot in Week 9 versus the Packers and started every game from there on, with the exception of Week 15 against the Chargers due to a knee injury.

For 2022, Wylie will have to compete with rookie Darian Kinnard, newly added free agent Geron Christian, and third-year tackle Lucas Niang (who’s coming off of a major injury) for the starting right tackle role. If Andy Reid runs the ball more, he will be playing to Wylie’s (and basically the entire offensive line’s) strength which in turn will make the Chiefs both better and more complete on offense.

I believe that Wylie will not only be playing for a starting position this season but for free agency in March. Since Niang is signed through 2024 and Kinnard through 2025, it is unlikely the Chiefs will bring Wylie back at a significant pay raise in 2023, unless both young players show little signs of development. This means that the Chiefs are preparing to lose him next year and will rely on one of the young guys to take over the right tackle position long-term. Despite the long-term projections, for 2022, the Chiefs will likely go with the option that gives them the best chance to win now, which could be Wylie.

If the Chiefs decide to let him walk next March, Andrew Wylie will look to sign with a new team looking for a right tackle or whatever position that potential new team wants him to play. If he plays well enough, assuming he sees regular playing time, he may be in line for a significant contract to potentially help solve another team’s problem on the offensive line.

If his quality of play takes a step back, he may return to the Chiefs but if his play improves, he will likely leave Kansas City for a new opportunity in 2023.

What do you think of Andrew Wylie? Do you think he’ll be the starting right tackle in 2022? Feel free to let me know in the comment section or on Twitter (@StrozinskyLucas).