The Kansas City Chiefs came into the offseason needing to find a major upgrade at left tackle. Unfortunately, the best potential option by a country mile was just taken out of the picture with the news that Ronnie Stanley isn't going anywhere.
The Baltimore Ravens have come to terms with Stanley, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic, on a rich new three-year deal to keep the tackle away from their AFC rivals.
Stanley started all 17 games for the Ravens last season and was scheduled to hit the open market as NFL free agency opened next week. While there are other potential options in terms of veterans available, none of them provided the proven floor and body of experience as Stanley—a proven vet who would have provided the best play in front of Patrick Mahomes in years.
Now the Chiefs have to turn to other free agent possibilities, including Cam Robinson of the Minnesota Vikings and Dan Moore Jr. of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Robinson is at least younger but his performance is not on part with Stanley. Moore is the most reliable of all, but the ceiling there is questionable and Pittsburgh upgraded themselves for good reasons.
The Chiefs were reportedly interested in chasing Stanley this offseason and the money given to him in this reported deal—averaging $20 million per year with $44M guaranteed—is certainly not outside of what K.C. should have been willing to bid. It's likely a sign that Stanley wanted to stay with Lamar Jackson and the familiar surroundings of Baltimore, a team that made him their first round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
The Chiefs have internal options like Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris, if push comes to shove, but the former is already earmarked to be Joe Thuney's replacement at left guard, and the latter's best role seems to be at swing tackle.
Perhaps Veach will make a swing at a big trade up the NFL draft board in late April to grab one of the league's better prospects. Even so, Stanley still would have been the better play all along. It's just too bad the Ravens kept the Chiefs from being able to fill the offseason's biggest void, especially after a frustrating showing in Super Bowl LIX.