The Kansas City Chiefs are still enjoying the lingering Super Bowl victory vibes, but free agency will arrive in a week and the front office will need to address a number of areas in preparation for the 2023 season.
Orlando Brown Jr. is likely gone after the Chiefs opted not to franchise tag him. Frank Clark, Carlos Dunlap, Jerick McKinnon, Mecole Hardman, Andrew Wylie, Derrick Nnadi, Juan Thornhill and others will be free agents.
That’s a lot of potential loss on the horizon, even for a franchise as intelligent and successful as the Chiefs. Though fans will point to the fact they just won it all by letting Tyreek Hill and Tyrann Mathieu walk, it won’t be easy trying to replace similar talent two years in a row.
Lost in the shuffle of Tuesday’s insanity prior to the franchise tag deadline was NFL insider James Palmer providing some positive news for Chiefs fans. Well, one positive bit and one confounding bit.
Palmer revealed the Chiefs’ plan is to bring back free agent WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, who hauled in 78 catches for 933 yards and three touchdowns in 2022. OK, that’s good! But … Kadarius Toney is expected to be WR #1? Huh?
The thought in KC right now is Patrick Mahomes is expected to be throwing the same core group of guys he ended the season with.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) March 7, 2023
- Kelce
- Toney (who the #chiefs believe will be WR1 in 2023)
- MVS
- The plan is to bring Ju Ju back
- Skyy Moore
Chiefs plan to bring back JuJu Smith-Schuster, elevate Kadarius Toney
Looks like Eagles fans are going to hate us beyond comprehension for another full year! Regardless, Smith-Schuster returning would be enormous because Hardman is expected to leave. That much turnover in the WR corps would be difficult for any quarterback, even the NFL’s best in Patrick Mahomes.
Though continuity helps … we’re not sure that elevating Toney to the top spot in the receiving game is the smartest idea. He doesn’t necessarily possess the size (and he’s yet to really showcase his speed consistently) for that role and he’s had injury problems ever since debuting in 2021 (he’s played in just 19 out of a possible 33 games and started only seven total).
His 55 catches for 591 yards and two touchdowns in 19 games hardly even screams No. 2 receiver. Then again, the rebuttal would be that Mahomes is his quarterback for a full season and Toney would be executing his adept route-running skills in the league’s most prolific offensive system.
Also, the Chiefs don’t have much of a choice. This year’s WR free agent class is relatively weak and the organization is $4 million in the red in regard to cap space. So this is where they find out if parting with a third- and sixth-rounder for Toney was worth it.
That, and we’ll get another year of watching Smith-Schuster’s filmmaking abilities prosper beyond whatever it was he decided to direct last week.