Jawaan Taylor signs four-year deal with Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs have landed a significant addition at tackle with the signing of Jawaan Taylor away from the Jacksonville Jaguars.

So much for wondering about what the Kansas City Chiefs might do at offensive tackle. While there are still questions to be asked about how things might settle along the entire line, the Chiefs took care of the biggest offseason question with the signing of Jawaan Taylor to a four-year deal in free agency.

Per NFL reporter Adam Schefter, the deal for Taylor includes an annual $20 million average over four seasons and includes $60 million in guaranteed money.

The Chiefs entered the offseason with questions on both sides of the line with the potential departures of both Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie in free agency. The Chiefs courted the idea of re-signing Brown to an extension but the numbers reportedly weren’t right. Rumors persisted of a Laremy Tunsil trade as well, but here the Chiefs come away with an answer at tackle without having to trade any draft assets or resetting the market.

Taylor does come with a serious price tag here, but he’s also very young and incredibly dependable. A former second-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Taylor has never played left tackle in the NFL and it’s possible that the Chiefs wanted to shore up the right side instead of overpaying on the left. Either way, the Chiefs have far fewer questions up front than they did before the day began.

Taylor comes with a serious history of starting only on the right side, but Albert Breer is reporting that the Chiefs will try him out on the left side to replace Orlando Brown Jr.

The Chiefs still have questions at left tackle and other positions, but the signing of Taylor gives them another strong lineman to put alongside Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and Trey Smith while trying to protect Patrick Mahomes.