Chiefs’ baffling decision to say no to Khalen Saunders raises serious questions

Khalen Saunders has received plenty of free-agent interest from teams around the National Football League. Reading the tea leaves insinuates that the Kansas City Chiefs weren't among them.

The Jacksonville Jaguars released Khalen Saunders following Week 10, and he cleared waivers as a vested veteran cut after the NFL's trade deadline. From there, Chiefs Kingdom thought it was an obvious move for the franchise to bring back a player at a position of need. However, it's clear the Chiefs have tapped the brakes on that momentum.

On Monday, it was reported that Saunders is expected to sign with the New York Jets, per Tom Pelissero. An earlier report listed multiple interested parties, but none of them were the Kansas City Chiefs. Instead, NFL reporter Jordan Schultz had the Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, and Baltimore Ravens among the teams in on Saunders..

The Chiefs' decision to apparently pass on Khalen Saunders is confusing (and concerning).

Saunders' own social media posts indicated that K.C. might have closed the door on any reunion before landing with the Jets. On Monday, Saunders posted, "Sorry yall, i tried" alongside the phrase "if only the fans were the front office" and "maybe one day tho who knows".

While cryptic, the message bolsters the idea that Saunders wanted a chance to return to the Chiefs only to be spurned by the front office. Given that Saunders has remained a champion of both the team and city, it's hard to imagine a different meaning by his post, especially with the rumored pursuit of other teams for his services.

If the Chiefs officially said "no thanks" to Saunders, it's a puzzling development since the roster is thin at defensive tackle. Is Saunders really not an upgrade on Derrick Nnadi? The Chiefs just signed Mike Pennel a couple of weeks ago, and he was immediately inserted into the rotation at a greater level than Nnadi. Would Saunders accept a practice squad role to start? He already did so in Jacksonville.

The Chiefs already lost Omarr Norman-Lott to injury, which sidelined the team's second-round pick until 2026. Beyond Chris Jones, the Chiefs have aging veterans who are limited in what they offer. If internal evaluation of the defensive interior leads to the Chiefs' passing on Saunders, something feels off—at least from the outside looking in.

At this point, the Chiefs have bet on the horses that brought them this far. Now they can only hope that Nnadi, Pennel, and Jerry Tillery can get the job done up front next to Chris Jones.