KC Chiefs: The case to bring Nick Allegretti back in 2023

After being selected in the 7th round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Nick Allegretti has been a good value for the Chiefs and the Chiefs should re-sign him.

Offensive lineman Nick Allegretti has not played a ton of snaps over his first three NFL seasons but he has still been a good value for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Out of the University of Illinois, the Chiefs used the 216th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft on Allegretti. After barely seeing any non-special teams plays during his rookie season, he played almost 900 snaps on offense in the 2020 season. He then played 80 snaps on offense last season, most of those coming in the Chiefs’ Week 17 loss to the Bengals after Orlando Brown Jr. and Lucas Niang left because of injuries.

In that Week 17 game in Cincinnati, Nick Allegretti played 55 snaps (19 run blocking and 36 pass blocking) and recorded a very good PFF overall grade ($) of 75.4, including a near-elite pass-blocking grade of 88.7. In the 36 pass-blocking snaps he saw that game, he allowed a grand total of zero pressures. In fact, he allowed zero pressures in 41 snaps across all of last season. Yes, the sample size is incredibly small but it is still an encouraging sign nonetheless.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of Nick Allegretti’s career has been this receiving touchdown against the Steelers in the past year’s wild-card round:

For the record, PFF gave him a receiving grade of 90.1, which is considered elite, so the Chiefs should consider using him at tight end more often (kidding, of course).

His rookie contract does expire after this season and he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent. While it makes for him to leave Kansas City in pursuit of a potential starting job, the Chiefs should highly consider bringing him back next season. He is a very good depth player and he likely won’t be very expensive to retain. For a team looking for value in free agency along the interior of the offensive line, Allegretti is likely one of the best options in next year’s class.

Allegretti can play anywhere along the interior of the offensive line and can even play tackle in a pinch, though he is better at guard or center, and that is attractive to basically every team in the NFL. His lack of offensive snaps is not ideal but he does have starting experience from the 2020 season, where his pass-protection was less than ideal, but his run-blocking was more than serviceable.

I believe that the Chiefs would be wise to re-sign Nick Allegretti at the conclusion of the 2022 season as he is an excellent depth option, and teams can never have too much depth in the trenches, he will likely be relatively cheap, and he seems to be well-liked among his teammates.

Of course, he may want to pursue an opportunity with more playing time, which the Chiefs cannot give him due to their rock-solid core on the interior, so he may be dead set on leaving for a new team. But if he is willing to return to KC, the Chiefs should not hesitate to bring him back.

What do you think of Nick Allegretti? Do you think that the Chiefs should re-sign him? Feel free to let me know in the comment section or on Twitter (@StrozinskyLucas).