Defensive free agents that make sense for KC Chiefs

With the new league year set to start on March 15th, the Chiefs are back to the drawing board with their free agency plans.

The 2022 season ended exactly how the Kansas City Chiefs hoped following a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57. For the team that ultimately hoists the Lombardi trophy, there’s always a painfully quick turnaround before the NFL offseason gets underway. Just six days after the team’s SBLVII parade before a reported million members of Chiefs Kingdom, an important series of offseason dates approached. The annual rat race begins anew and the Chiefs will have to shift their focus to roster considerations in preparation for the 2023 season.

On February 21st, the window for teams to leverage franchise tags opened. More on that in a moment, as there’s at least one player on Kansas City’s roster who could be impacted. Seven days later, on February 28th, team officials descended upon Indianapolis for the 2023 NFL Combine. The first two weeks of March will bring pro days across the NCAA and a period where teams will be able to enter into contract negotiations with pending free agents.

Our focus today is on March 15th: the official start of the free agency period. In 2023, K.C. has 15 players slated to hit unrestricted free agency. Some of those players will be retained; others will hit the market and look to cash in elsewhere. The goal for general manager Brett Veach is to find the right mix of players he’ll retain from the current roster, along with players he’ll court to join the team for the 2023 campaign.

With so many positions potentially affected by the start of the new league year, we’ll split this into two parts. This week, we’ll focus on the defensive side of the football. Given a surprisingly strong draft class last April, the Chiefs don’t have many holes on the defensive side of the football, but it’s worth taking a look at how they might improve a young, budding unit next season.