3 contract decisions that will pay off for KC Chiefs

When it comes to evaluating the work of a general manager (and his front office staff), it's important to not only survey the transactions made but to also recall the ones they did not make. The performance of a general manager is, on the one hand, measured in his ability to "get his man." On the other, GMs need to show restraint and not make moves out of desperation.

This offseason has been a very measured one for the Chiefs, who have made some moves to address their greatest needs while largely maintaining flexibility on the financial front. Most signings were of the one-year variety and no lucrative extensions have yet been handed out, save for Jawaan Taylor, the team's newest tackle.

Out of all of the decisions made this spring and summer, however, we think these three will pay off for the Chiefs.

Adding Drue Tranquill unexpectedly

Drue Tranquill was not part of the plan. General manager Brett Veach will tell you that much himself.

Tranquill came into this offseason as a familiar face to the Chiefs, having spent the first four seasons of his career with their AFC West rivals, the L.A. Chargers. Tranquill was hoping to hit his first major payday as a free-agent linebacker, but as it turns out, the market left him standing there a bit into the new league year.

As the Chiefs were negotiating with JuJu Smith-Schuster's agent, Veach says they began to also discuss another client: Tranquill. Here's how Veach told the story of his signing:

"I don’t know if we went into free agency saying linebacker was a super high priority – I think we probably focused on the O and D-line, predominantly. But then as free agency goes, there’s always some guys that for some reason they’re just out there, and they’re really good players, and we just picked up communication because Drue Tranquill actually has the same agent as JuJu [Smith-Schuster] ... once we congratulated JuJu’s crew and his team of agents, we were made aware that Drue Tranquill was still out there and having had a lot of experience playing against him, knew how good he was."

So instead of spending $3 million for a player in another spot, the Chiefs got Tranquill who is coming off a true breakout campaign to join what is now one of the most loaded linebacker corps in the league.

Tranquill's presence allows the Chiefs defense to do a lot of things, but most importantly, they can breathe easy. Tranquill has worn the green dot on defense as the primary communicator in the heart of it all for the Chargers. He's solid against the run but he's even better in coverage. Last year, he was an excellent blitzer as well with 5 sacks on the season.

In other words, the Chiefs have a player who can push Willie Gay Jr., Nick Bolton, and Leo Chenal to be their best or else they will lose playing time to the newest face in town. And even then, Tranquill might take those reps anyway because he's that talented. It means the Chiefs will be okay through any injury and that the second level should be a dynamic unit to watch this season.