The Laremy Tunsil dream is dead for the Chiefs (or any other team)

For those fans who were wanting the Kansas City Chiefs to somehow still pull together a move Laremy Tunsil and spend all the money ever on the o-line…

There was a world created by some Kansas City Chiefs fans this season in which it seemed possible for their favorite team to have all of the things. Well, at least all of the desired players in the trenches. On Sunday, that dream was rendered dead with the word that Laremy Tunsil had signed a brand new contract with the Houston Texans.

NFL reporter Ian Rapoport has word that Tunsil has signed a new contract extension with the Texans worth up to $25 million a year for three more seasons, which should effectively keep him in Houston for the rest of his prime.

Just like that, the dream of some in Chiefs Kingdom who wanted Laremy Tunsil on the left side and Jawaan Taylor on the right in front of Patrick Mahomes was done.

That whole idea of the Chiefs making any such move after already committing $80 million over four years to Taylor was outright silly. It would have flown in the face of any common sense usage of resources in the salary cap era. What team can afford Pro Bowl performers at every single position? Who wants to pay three players $20M+ per season along the offensive line?

That said, there is an understandable angle that defied logic because the Chiefs had been here before. For those old enough, there was a time in Chiefs’ history when they boasted not only the best offensive line in the NFL but one of the best in league history.

Shortly after Y2K turned into a thing we didn’t really have to worry about after all, the Chiefs decided to sign Willie Roaf after years in New Orleans. Suddenly the Chiefs had a future Hall of Famer (who would make four All-Pro teams in four seasons in KC) on the left side. They already had Will Shields at right guard, another future Hall of Famer who is arguably among the top 2-3 guards to ever play the game.

Between and around those two figures, the Chiefs also employed six-time Pro Bowler Brian Waters, who has a Hall of Fame case of his own, at left guard. Casey Wiegmann was a Pro Bowl center who made 200 career starts in the NFL. Right tackle John Tait was a solid starter who made 139 starts of his own over 10 seasons with the Chiefs and Bears.

In short, there was a time when the Chiefs had three Hall of Fame talents and five solid starters without a weak link up front. The results were devastating (for other teams) who tried to stop anything and everything the Chiefs wanted to do on offense.

That time was a sweet one in Chiefs history, one remembered with fondness, and it’s understandable that some fans would wax nostalgic and want the Chiefs to return to that level of dominance up front. If Taylor is good as advertised, then imagine him and Tunsil blocking around Pro Bowlers like Joe Thuney and Creed Humphrey and a bright young mauler like Trey Smith.

But alas, that dream was never realistic in this day and age of top-of-the-market deals and cap limitations. And that’s okay. The Chiefs line is still dominant even without Tunsil. It’s just not historic—at least not yet.