Chiefs have new offensive tackle to consider in free agent market

Outside of Arrowhead Stadium, it's impossible for anyone to officially say whether or not the Kansas City Chiefs are looking at adding some help at the offensive tackle position, but all of the signs are there.

A few days ago, the Chiefs watched starting left tackle Wanya Morris leave with a knee injury in their win over the Denver Broncos in Week 10 that was bad enough that it required some time back in the locker room. The team eventually designated him as questionable to return.

Morris's replacement in the starting line was Kingsley Suamataia, the Chiefs' second-round draft pick out of Brigham Young in the most recent NFL Draft. Suamataia began the year as the Chiefs starting left tackle but was unable to hold down the job after just two weeks and Morris entered the fold. The bad news is that Suamataia looked as bad as ever upon his return to the field and the team quickly brought back Morris for the final minutes of the game.

Heading into a new week, the Chiefs' choices going forward are a likely still-ailing Morris, however honest they will let him be about the injury, and a clearly-not-ready rookie who remains every bit the project he was predicted to be.

Sure, the Chiefs have other prospects around the roster. Ethan Driskell has been a healthy scratch on the active roster for the last several weeks. Meanwhile Jason Godrick and Lucas Niang are on the practice squad, but if the Chiefs have made no overtures to ingratitate any of them into the starting line thus far, so it's hard to believe either is the answer.

Enter Tyre Phillips. The former New York Giants offensive tackle is working his way back to the field from a late-season quad injury from 2023 and NFL insider Jordan Schutlz reported on Wednesday that multiple teams have been "monitoring."

Tyre Phillips originally entered the NFL as a third-round selection of the Baltimore Ravens out of Mississippi State in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Ravens released him after two seasons and he split time with the Giants and Eagles before coming back to New York to start the final several games of the season at right tackle to replace the injured Evan Neal.

Phillips was a decent enough performer to provide a solid floor for some team, although that was at right tackle for New York. The team ended up letting him walk in free agency after signing Jermaine Eleumenor and bringing back Neal.

Now, there's no mention of the Chiefs here so this is all complete speculation. It's also important to note that the Chiefs still haven't made any other moves either. If they were all that worried about the position, they could have already invited Philipps or others to come in for a visit—including Donovan Smith, last year's stater. Instead the front office has remained quiet—at least in any public-facing way.

But it's also possible that Tyre gives them at least someone else to consider in the face of what seems to be an obvious need at a thin position.