The 3 worst contracts on the Chiefs' payroll ahead of free agency

RT Jawaan Taylor

Tackle Jawaan Taylor did not earn any fans in his first Chiefs season, and his contract is a key reason for that. The Chiefs signed Taylor to an $80 million contract this past offseason, to potentially serve as a long-term solution to either tackle spot. But, as my fellow Arrowhead Addict writer Lucas Strozinsky said, Taylor has "been one of the biggest (if not the biggest) free-agent busts in the Brett Veach era."

20 penalties in 17 regular season games is nothing to shake a stick at. Those penalties sometimes never impacted a Kansas City drive piloted by Patrick Mahomes, but others were more impactful. His quick first step and timing of the snap caused controversy around the league from Week 1, in typical offensive lineman fashion. Fans only cared about Taylor when he wasn't doing his job and willfully ignored him when he was.

The fact is, Taylor was not worth his contract in 2023. There is no positive way to slice his first season in Kansas City. Moving from the balanced Jacksonville Jaguars offense to Kansas City's pass-heavy attack did no favors for the run-first tackle, but he even struggled in that facet. PFF gave him a 45.5 run blocking grade, good for 55th-best amongst qualifying offensive tackles. You can have what gripes you want with PFF, but that certainly is not worth his $20 million APY.

Taylor gave up 47 pass pressures in 2023, the second-most in his career and a number more kin to Andrew Wylie than a franchise cornerstone. Taylor is still only 26, leaving his prime years ahead of him. But his first year blocking for Patrick Mahomes does not offer much confidence.

The thing is, Kansas City cannot shed Taylor's contract ahead of the 2024 season without serious ramifications. He is guaranteed a $20 million salary this upcoming season and trying to cut or trade him ahead of June 1 would incur serious dead money cap hits. Kansas City has to roll into 2024 with Taylor on the books, whether they like it or not. Hopefully, he will serve as a stabilizing starter opposite of whoever the left tackle option is for Kansas City.