The Kansas City Chiefs' 2025 free agency experience has been... fine. There are a few moves that K.C. fans can be happy with and a few moves that they can question. The team has put itself in a position where it could probably field a very competitive roster right now before the NFL Draft. While that's good, it is also fair to question if that roster is as good as the one they put together last season. Right now, at least on paper, I think the answer is probably no. That means the Chiefs' coaching staff has some work to do if they want to get back to the Super Bowl in 2025.
The Chiefs managed to keep their biggest pending free agent, Trey Smith, but to clear the cap space for him, they made the business decision to trade away Joe Thuney. They managed to keep their defensive play-caller, Nick Bolton, but they had to let another key defensive captain, Justin Reid walk. They signed Jerry Tillery to help on the defensive interior but lost both Tershawn Wharton and Derrick Nnadi.
They did add a left tackle who could be an upgrade over Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris, but he's still very unproven. They added a running back who could provide some much-needed explosiveness to the running back room, but he's a wildcard because of all the injuries he's had. About the only place you could feel confident that the Chiefs have upgraded is at cornerback, where they added a good player in Kristian Fulton without losing anyone important.
The Chiefs could still make some cheap, under-the-radar signings that end up being incredibly valuable, but the biggest additions to the roster at this point will probably come through the draft. So if we're looking at the Chiefs' roster as it currently stands and a class of rookies to go with it, what will it take to get that roster to a Super Bowl? The answer is found in the Chiefs' hopes that the coaching staff can work its magic.
The Kansas City Chiefs will rely heavily on their coaching staff to provide improvement
If you polled every NFL "expert" to identify the NFL's best head coaches, offensive minds, and defensive minds Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo would definitely make the vast majority of the lists. The Chiefs' coaching staff is respected and revered, but their excellence is going to be called upon to prove itself this season.
The Chiefs' Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles exposed a need to upgrade their offensive line. Right now, when you look at the line that KC used in that Super Bowl, they have subtracted Joe Thuney and added Jaylon Moore. That doesn't feel like the clear improvement they needed. However, if offensive line coach Andy Heck can help Moore build off the potential he showed in his limited starts in San Francisco, and if he can help a young player like Suamataia or Morris make a successful transition to guard, the line could be improved. However, coaching is key to that potential progress.
They trust Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid's offense. They just want to be able to run it smoothly. So, coach up the young offensive linemen and keep the offense stocked with receivers and backs who know the system, and that will be enough to right the ship from the offensive struggles of the past year or two. That's a lot of faith in the system and Mahomes, which may be warranted, but even Mahomes has seen his production slip as the roster around him has had a fair number of holes.
The story is very similar on the opposite side of the ball. The Chiefs' biggest move was extending Bolton, whom Steve Spagnuolo wanted to keep because he's the guy who runs his defense on the field. Bolton is Spagnuolo's eyes, ears, and mouth out on the field. The Chiefs trust Spags' system, and if Bolton is key to running that, then he's the priority, and they'll fill in the other gaps where they can. Fulton will be a nice boost to the secondary and should free up Trent McDuffie to be more of a movable chess piece that can keep opposing quarterbacks guessing.
The Chiefs may add some defensive talent in the draft, but there's a pattern here. They trust the system and just want to keep it functioning. They've put a lot of faith in this coaching staff and their schemes. For KC, this free agency period wasn't about trying to increase the overall talent on the roster. It was about making sure they could run the systems that their coaches want. I'm sure they're hoping to add some valuable talent in the draft, but rookies will rely on good coaching even more than their veteran players will.
There is a popular belief in the NFL that the best coaches fit their system to the talent they have at their disposal. I think that's true, but the salary cap (while bendable with creative contracts) makes it hard for a team with several big-money players like the Chiefs to keep winning bidding wars for the top talent in free agency. So, since they didn't see a path to improvement through sheer talent additions, they've put their faith in their coaches and are trying to make additions that they can work with to keep their systems running. Will this method work? Time will tell.
So, what do you think, Chiefs fans? Are you disappointed that the Chiefs haven't upgraded the roster more through free agency? Do you think they've taken the smart approach considering their salary cap limitations and an underwhelming free agency class? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below.
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