Chiefs free agency: Jawaan Taylor could be alternate market strategy

UPDATE: The Chiefs have indeed agreed to sign Jawaan Taylor to a four-year deal. Full details at the link below:

After deciding not to use the franchise tag on impending free agent left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., the Kansas City Chiefs could be gearing up to lose both tackles in free agency as starting right tackle Andrew Wylie is also slated to hit the open market.

While there’s plenty of reason to have faith in the Chiefs’ front office, it is also incredibly risky to let both of your starting tackles from last season hit free agency. We knew that Wylie was likely to become a free agent, but it came as a bit of a surprise when the team decided not to use the tag on Orlando Brown. This means that Brown could potentially walk away from the organization for nothing, but more importantly, it means the Chiefs are fine with it happening.

So, what is the plan? They could still bring back either one of Wylie or Brown—or even both. That seems unlikely, though, especially with Brown who is likely to go elsewhere given the Chiefs and Brown are still miles apart on a new deal. Brown will also be the best left tackle on the open market. That would indicate that the Chiefs may need to either turn their attention towards the right tackle and fill that hole in free agency so they aren’t rolling into the draft needing to address both bookends of the offensive line with rookies.

Jawaan Taylor could be an intriguing FA route for KC Chiefs

Given the weakness of the left tackle market and the likelihood that the Chiefs and Orlando Brown move on from each other, it would be an intriguing route for the Chiefs to make a big upgrade at right tackle and spend some money on Jacksonville’s Jawaan Taylor.

Taylor, who is just 25 years old, is one of the best young right tackles in the league who possess great length and power with astounding 35″ arms that are connected to a 6’5″, 315 lbs frame. Taylor certainly has the size the Chiefs value and his biggest strength is in pass protection which is important to a Chiefs offense that loves to throw the ball and saw their starting tackles give up way too much pressure last year.

Would fans rather have an elite left tackle? Probably, but there aren’t really any elite left tackles available and if you aren’t addressing either tackle spot in free agency, you’re going to be banking on a couple of draft picks to get the job done. Additionally, the Chiefs had a better right tackle than left tackle for years with Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher and they were able to have an elite offense because Fisher was at least competent on the left side.

We also know that the Chiefs have money to play around with this offseason and Taylor’s projected market value, according to Spotrac, is around $14 million per year. Not bad for a 25-year-old Pro Bowl-level right tackle.

If the Chiefs were to take a swing at Taylor, it would all but ensure that they plan on drafting a rookie at left tackle not only because they would have already spent money on right tackle, but because their offensive line as a whole is about to get a whole lot more expensive in the coming years and it would help out to have the most important position on the line also be the least expensive so you can keep your potential group of Jawaan Taylor, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and Trey Smith together long term.

Ultimately, it may not be a popular route and it may involve some risk as the Chiefs would essentially be swapping out a starting left tackle for a starting right tackle which is considered the less valuable position. Yet, they’d likely be saving much more money while not just plugging a hole but making a huge upgrade at right tackle so they don’t have so much pressure on them heading into the 2023 NFL draft.