2024 NFL Offseason Primer: Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

Projected Cap Space: $6.4 million

Draft Picks: 6

• 1st (No. 32)
• 2nd (No. 64)
• 3rd (No. 95)
• 4th (No. 133)
• 5th (No. 158, DAL)
• 5th (No. 172, comp)

Notable Free Agents: 

• DT Chris Jones
• CB L’Jarius Sneed (franchise tag)
• LB Willie Gay
• LT Donovan Smith
• S Mike Edwards
• LB Drue Tranquill
• DE Mike Danna
• OL Nick Allegretti
• DT Derrick Nnadi
• WR Richie James
• WR Mecole Hardman
• DT Tershawn Wharton
• RB Jerick McKinnon
• RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
• P Tommy Townsend
• QB Blaine Gabbert

Top Three Needs

1 – Left Tackle

Most of the stuff you’ll see breaking down the Chiefs’ needs for this upcoming season will focus on wide receiver given how bad the group was for the majority of this past season. But once again, I don’t expect the Chiefs to adhere to the conventional wisdom when it comes to the position. 

We’ve seen QB Patrick Mahomes win two Super Bowls with less-than-inspiring receiving corps. His lone Super Bowl loss came when his offensive line was completely overwhelmed. That’s why I think keeping the offensive line in great shape will always be one of GM Brett Veach‘s top priorities, even at the expense of the pass-catching group. 

Veach overhauled the line after that Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers in 2020 and the bulk of that core remains in place with G Joe Thuney, C Creed Humphrey and G Trey Smith. Last year he overhauled the tackle spots to compensate for the loss of LT Orlando Brown Jr. and RT Andrew Wylie in free agency, signing RT Jawaan Taylor and LT Donovan Smith. 

Smith is a free agent and was one of the weak points on offense for Kansas City last year. Last summer the Chiefs signed him instead of pushing harder to land WR DeAndre Hopkins, and I would expect finding a starting left tackle to again be high on their priority list. Most mock drafts have the Chiefs taking a receiver right now, but given the strength of this tackle class I would expect that to change. 

Taylor had some struggles, too, but a lot more bright spots, and the Chiefs are committed to him contractually for two more seasons anyway. Humphrey and Smith are in contract years and the 32-year-old Thuney has two more years remaining on his contract. Humphrey is one of the best centers in football, so he would make sense as an extension candidate in the summer. The Chiefs could look to add some more help at guard as insurance for either Thuney or Smith down the road. 

2 – Defensive Line

If the Chiefs can’t keep Jones, this would vault up the priority list. He’s one of the best defensive players in football and a major engine in the success that side of the ball had in 2023. Maybe the second-straight Super Bowl win lowered Jones’ asking price a little, but it’s still hard to see the team keeping the 29-year-old for less than $30 million a year.

Kansas City has balked at paying top-of-the-market money for anyone aside from Mahomes in recent seasons, but the catch is Jones would be harder to replace than any other player they’ve let walk. They can create the cap flexibility to keep Jones — plus Sneed too who is also set to walk and get a handsome payday in free agency — with an expected restructure for Mahomes’ deal and a couple of other moves. It’s just a question of whether Veach thinks it’s a good investment. 

Even if Kansas City does hang on to Jones, there’s some more work to be done here. Neil Farrell is the only defensive tackle under contract in 2024 so the Chiefs need to fill out the rest of the room with a starter to play alongside Jones and ideally an eventual successor. 

At edge rusher, the underrated Danna is set to be a free agent and DE Charles Omenihu tore his ACL in the AFC Championship, putting his status for 2024 in doubt. Kansas City used a first-round pick on DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah last year with the goal of pairing him with former first-round DE George Karlaftis, but he played sparingly as a rookie. Insurance is needed, both to fill out the rotation and to insulate the Chiefs if Anudike-Uzomah needs more time to develop. 

3 – Wide Receiver

There is a limit to how little investment a team can put into the receiving corps before it backfires, as the Patriots found out a few times with Tom Brady. The Chiefs have not found that limit yet with Mahomes but last year it seemed like they got close. 

Going forward, Chiefs WR Rashee Rice looks like a key piece to the passing game, as he steadily increased his role as the season went along. Rice basically slots into the same role the Chiefs had for WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster and Sammy Watkins in previous seasons as a reliable possession receiver who will be where Mahomes wants him to be when he wants him to be there, and who can create explosive plays after the catch. It will be interesting to see if he develops into more of an all-around receiver in Year 2. 

Though not a receiver, TE Travis Kelce still figures to be a huge part of the passing game going forward. His playoff run helped alleviate some of the narratives about him being “washed.” Outside of that, there aren’t a lot of other weapons. Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney and Justin Watson are under contract. Veteran deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling was cut for cap savings. Toney could be cut as well. It wouldn’t help the cap but it would lower the errors committed by the group.  

Kansas City can use a more reliable vertical option than Valdes-Scantling to free up space for Kelce and Rice to work underneath. They also need to start thinking about what the offense will look like in a post-Kelce world, even if that’s not going to be their reality in 2024. 

One Big Question

Can the Chiefs win three Super Bowls in a row and make history?

No team has ever won three straight Super Bowls. The Packers won three straight titles but only the last two were Super Bowls following the NFL/AFL merger. The Bills are one of two teams to even play in three straight, losing four in a row in the 90s. The Dolphins played in three straight but lost the first before winning the last two. 

Plenty of other teams have won two straight: 

• The Steelers did it twice, first in the late 70s and second in the early 80s. 
• The 49ers did it in the late 80s. 
• The Dallas Cowboys won two straight in the 90s and ultimately won three in four years. 
• The Broncos took two straight Super Bowls to end the century. 
• The Patriots dynasty only won two straight Super Bowls once, doing it in the early 2000s. They also repeated Dallas’ three of four feat. New England was also in four of five Super Bowls in the 2010s with three wins in that span. 

That’s where the Chiefs sit right now. Kansas City has been in four of the past five Super Bowls and has three rings in that span. They’re in position to do something literally without precedent in NFL history, which speaks to the greatness of their quarterback. 

Actually following through will be difficult. Some of the sports’ greatest players finished their careers without one Super Bowl, and every player to hold the title of GOAT has fallen short of this particular mark. The Chiefs and Mahomes will have a target on their back all season, and this might be the year where they finally transition into villain status as the top dogs of the league. 

But people remember greatness. Mahomes and the Chiefs have already achieved that, and 2024 represents a chance for them to take it to another level.