The Kansas City Chiefs need defensive line help. Despite Steve Spagnuolo's unit getting decent results, the pass rush has been limited and they were already woefully short on defensive tackle depth before the season-ending injury to rookie Omarr Norman-Lott. Given their current circumstances, KC needs to find some cheap help and former Chief Khalen Saunders could be just the right man for the job.
Saunders was drafted by the Chiefs in 2019 and spent his first four seasons in KC. He then spent two seasons in New Orleans before joining the Jacksonville Jaguars this season. However, after earning regular snaps for the Saints over the two previous years, he has barely touched the field for the Jags. He's played just one game and 12 snaps this season and has been inactive for most of their games. A 29-year-old backup defensive tackle who isn't active for most games isn't a player who is going to cost much in draft capital. A future 7th or late-round pick swap might be enough to get it done.
Saunders could easily step in and fill the hole left by Omarr Norman-Lott. While Norman-Lott had shown some potential early in his rookie season, he wasn't playing a ton of snaps. In fact, in the five games he played, he only averaged 14.4 snaps per game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are overworking Chris Jones, with him playing three times as many snaps. Of Lott's 72 snaps played, Pro Football Focus logged exactly two-thirds of them as pass-rushing snaps.
A reunion with former fan-favorite Khalen Saunders could immediately stabilize the Chiefs at DT.
While Saunders is built more like a traditional nose tackle, he has freakish athleticism for a man his size and has graded out higher as a pass rusher than a run stopper in most of his seasons. While he isn't Chris Jones by any means, he has the strength and athleticism to push the pocket and provide some pressure, and that's all that the Chiefs really need. Plus, Saunders has shown the ability to handle regular snaps in the past and having a big body to split reps with Derrick Nnadi would be an added bonus.
The icing on the cake is that Saunders was a fan favorite who genuinely seemed to love his time in Kansas City. He was loved in the locker room, and he has continued to support the Chiefs on social media when people take shots at them despite playing for other teams. This is a cheap move that would help the team and would be well received by the team, fans, and Saunders himself.
By making a cheap addition like Saunders at defensive tackle, it would also leave them some room to make another move at defensive end where they could really use some pass rush help as well. The Chiefs could bring in a bigger name like Calais Campbell or bring back a lesser name like Fabien Lovett, but Saunders seems like the perfect compromise between the two. This move makes too much sense and Brett Veach needs to get this done as soon as possible.