5 under-the-radar free agents the KC Chiefs should target
The Kansas City Chiefs, despite just winning their second consecutive Super Bowl, have a lot of business to take care of in the coming weeks. Their two best defensive players from last season, Chris Jones and L'Jarius Sneed, require new contracts and they also need to upgrade their wide receiver room and figure out the left tackle position.
The two main ways that NFL teams use to improve are the draft and free agency. Fortunately, the latter opens on March 11.
According to Over The Cap, the Chiefs have around $17.1M in cap space, which is middle of the road among every team, but they should begin free agency with more once they make a few moves.
In addition to re-signing in-house free agents, Kansas City will also sign in outside talent to help load up for a run at a three-peat. They've been linked to some of the bigger free agents, such as wide receiver Mike Evans and Marquise Brown, but the Chiefs will only have enough money to sign one big-ticket free agent, in addition to Jones and Sneed.
However, the team could be fairly aggressive in signing players who won't command a lot of money compared to their more elite peers. The Chiefs have been fairly effective at getting value out of inexpensive free agents, such as linebacker Drue Tranquill last year and Jerick McKinnon in 2021.
Who are some of the more under-the-radar players at positions of need for Kansas City that won't break the bank? (No offense to ChiefsAholic.)
Let's review five players at five different positions that the Kansas City Chiefs could sign this offseason (not including ones already on the team):
Kendrick Bourne, Wide Receiver
First up is wide receiver Kendrick Bourne of the New England Patriots. Bourne is likely leaving New England in free agency and has the potential to be one of the biggest steals at the wide receiver position this offseason.
What makes Bourne appealing is that he's a good route-runner, doesn't struggle with drops, and is great at tracking the football. Despite his underwhelming long speed and athleticism, he's very good with the ball in his hands. According to Pro Football Focus ($), Bourne ranked inside the Top 20 (out of 81 WRs with at least 55 targets) in yards after catch per reception. He also has the ability to line outside or in the slot.
Despite having Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe throwing him passes over the past three seasons, Bourne has been fairly productive. He's averaged a very respectable 1.77 yards/route run since 2021 with the Patriots, including 1.73 in 2023. For context, Rashee Rice led the Kansas City wide receivers in yards/route run last season at 2.21, while Mecole Hardman was second at 1.49. The main difference here is that Kendrick Bourne did not have Patrick Mahomes throwing him the football.
The downside with Bourne is that he's coming off a torn ACL suffered in late October, but is expected to be ready by Week 1. Due to his injury, he won't be very expensive and should sign for around $6M to $8M a year over one to two seasons.