Defensive Ends
The Chiefs have three pieces of their edge rotation in place with George Karlaftis, Charles Omenihu, and Mike Danna, but they probably will look to add a couple more via the draft and free agency. Depending on what they are looking for and what they want to spend there are plenty of options to consider.
The Expensive Options: Yannick Ngakoue, Jadeveon Clowney, and Leonard Floyd
I don’t know that the Chiefs will look to pay a true “big name” option after adding Omenihu, but if they did these are probably the three biggest options. Ngakoue isn’t what he was at his peak, but he’s still an above-average, three-down player. Clowney probably isn’t worth his price tag at this point in his career (if he ever was). Floyd is an intriguing pure pass rusher, but since he’s coming off three straight seasons of 9 or more sacks KC would likely have to pony up for his services.
Waiting It Out For A Cheaper Veteran Option
The Chiefs have had some success waiting around for a cheap veteran “rent-an-edge” in recent years with Melvin Ingram and Carlos Dunlap. There is a HUGE list of similar players again this season (including both Ingram and Dunlap again) that the Chiefs could wait out and sign cheap this summer. Here is a list of those options, starting with the four most familiar to Chiefs fans.
Frank Clark, Justin Houston, Melvin Ingram, Carlos Dunlap, Robert Quinn, Dawuane Smoot, Kyle Van Noy, Trey Flowers, Rasheem Green, Bud Dupree, Shaq Lawson, and Markus Golden.
The Chiefs could easily wait it out for one of them to sign a team-friendly, one-year deal to try and win a ring and combo them with the three guys they already have at defensive end and then draft another in the first 2-3 rounds of the draft as well. I think that is the most likely scenario for this season.
So there you have it Chiefs fans. Those are the best players still available in free agency for the Kansas City Chiefs right now. Who do you want them to sign? Is there anyone that I didn’t list that you think should have made the list? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.