2025 NFL Offseason Primer: Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

Projected Cap Space: $4.4 million

Draft Picks: 6

1st (No. 32)
2nd (No. 64)
3rd (No. 66, TEN)
3rd (No. 96)
4th (No. 133)
7th (No. 256, comp)

Notable Free Agents:

Top Three Needs

1 – Offensive Line

The common thread in the Chiefs’ two Super Bowl losses was running into an opponent with the talent up front to dominate Kansas City’s offensive line and send QB Patrick Mahomes running for his life. After the first loss to the Buccaneers, the Chiefs completely overhauled the offensive line the following offseason, saying goodbye to both starting tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz who had a combined 183 starts, two Pro Bowls and four All Pro selections between them as Chiefs.

As replacements, the Chiefs landed G Joe Thuney on a big free-agent contract, traded for OT Orlando Brown Jr. in a package involving their first-round pick and drafted C Creed Humphrey in the second round and Smith in the sixth. It’s probably the most impressive one-year offensive line renovation in recent memory. They might end up needing to do a similar overhaul.

Smith is set to be a free agent and with the way the guard market has exploded should be in position to sign for north of $20 million per season. It’s fair to question whether the Chiefs will be willing to go that high for a guard, which isn’t traditionally seen as a premium position. Thuney is also entering the final year of his contract in 2025 and turns 33 in November. One way or another, it does not seem like both players are destined to be long-term fits in Kansas City.

Humphrey is locked up for years to come at center but out at tackle the Chiefs once again have major questions. They let Brown walk in free agency two years ago and instead pivoted to signing RT Jawaan Taylor to a massive, $20 million per year deal. Taylor’s unfortunately become more known for false starts and alignment penalties than his play on the field and there’s been some speculation the Chiefs could look to move on. However, his full $20 million compensation in 2025 is already guaranteed, so Kansas City might be stuck with him.

The Chiefs could be more content with that than fans and analysts. Though the NFL media space has come a long way with evaluating offensive linemen, there’s still not the same depth as with other positions. For instance, PFF is quite low on Taylor, putting him in the bottom quartile of tackles over the past two years. But in ESPN’s pass block win rate, Taylor has been a top-20 tackle in that same span.

Left tackle is more of an open question. After allowing Brown to leave, the Chiefs signed veteran LT Donovan Smith as a stopgap in 2023. In 2024, they turned things over to second-round OT Kingsley Suamataia, a massive, athletically gifted but raw prospect out of BYU. Suamataia’s struggles prompted a switch to Wanya Morris, a third-round pick in 2023, who was not able to hold things down much better. The Chiefs took a swing at veteran OT D.J. Humphries in a midseason signing but he was coming off a torn ACL late in the previous season and immediately injured his hamstring. That prompted the team to shift Thuney to left tackle and he stabilized things until running into the Eagles buzzsaw in the Super Bowl.

At guard, the Chiefs probably need to add both a veteran and draft picks, depending on what happens with Smith. The answer at tackle is cloudier. They could run it back with essentially the same group, counting on young players like Suamataia and Morris to take a leap forward. Kansas City did invest Day 2 picks on both and quality tackles usually aren’t available in free agency for a reason. What feels more likely is the Chiefs going after a veteran who can provide a floor of competence at left tackle and make one of the youngsters win the job.

2 – Pass Catcher

Plenty of people, myself included, had high hopes for the Chiefs’ offense in 2024 after they put a lot of effort into revitalizing the receiver group, adding speedsters like first-round WR Xavier Worthy and the veteran Brown on a one-year deal in free agency. Mahomes talked a lot in camp about how the goal was to get back to dictating explosive plays to defenses rather than resorting to the methodical approach they had to use in 2023.

That plan never got off the ground. Brown injured his shoulder in the preseason and didn’t return until late in December. Worthy battled a rookie learning curve and was not ready to be a primary receiver, though he did score nine touchdowns and his speed did have an impact. The Chiefs were hit hard by the loss of WR Rashee Rice in Week 3 to a major knee injury, and veteran TE Travis Kelce clearly lost a step as well. Hopkins arrived in a midseason trade but his impact was forgettable.

Rice and Worthy will be back but there are some questions around both, as Rice faces a rehab process plus a potential suspension for a stupid street-racing incident last summer. Worthy settled into a role as a schemed touch player and deep threat but would need to take a major developmental step to be a primary receiver. Kelce isn’t getting any younger and there are retirement questions. Brown is a free agent, along with Hopkins, Smith-Schuster and Watson.

While Rice, Worthy and possibly Kelce could be a solid nucleus for a skill position group, the Chiefs need more here. Maybe it’s bringing back Brown and reloading the depth in the room, banking that better health can recreate the vision the team had last summer. Or maybe it’s going out and getting a true No. 1 receiver who can dictate matchups and win one-on-one’s like Kansas City used to be able to do with Kelce and Tyreek Hill. It’s hard to say that they have that kind of player on the roster now.

3 – Defensive Line

Running back, safety, linebacker and cornerback are all potential needs as well, but the Eagles’ victory is just the latest example of how a potent defensive line is the next best thing for a team to have besides a franchise quarterback. Kansas City was no slouch in this department with DT Chris Jones, a future Hall of Famer who was named a first-team All-Pro for the third straight year, and DE George Karlaftis, who had fewer sacks than he did in 2023 (eight compared to 10.5) but was just as disruptive.

Things thin out after those two, though, and key rotation players like Omenihu, Wharton and Pennel are slated to be free agents. Former first-round DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah played just 31 percent of the snaps in his second season, so while the Chiefs would love if he developed into a starter just like Karlaftis, they need insurance.

And — while this feels almost sacrilegious to bring up — Jones’ production saw a bit of a dip this past year. He was still No. 1 among defensive tackles in a number of important metrics, including total pressures from PFF and pass rush win rate from ESPN. But he had just five sacks in 2024 after averaging 11 a season for the previous six years, and his win rate dipped to 16 percent after hitting 20 percent or better each of the previous four years. It could just be a blip but it’s worth noting for a player on the other side of 30.

One Big Question

Did the league just catch up to the Chiefs?

Though the haters were out in force after the Super Bowl, I think it’s still fair to call the Chiefs a dynasty. Since Mahomes took over as the starter in 2018, the Chiefs have reached the AFC title game every single season and gone on to the Super Bowl in five of those seven years. They have three championships in five years, matching the best output the Patriots ever had despite falling short of a historical three in a row.

It’s hard to stay on top in the NFL, though, and the shocking way in which the Chiefs were manhandled can’t help but spark questions about the future, especially with all the potential roster turnover noted above. Some losses create motivation and the opportunity for redemption, see the last time the Eagles played Kansas City in the Super Bowl. Others create scars and emotional baggage — the interception at the one-yard-line that prevented the Seahawks from reaching dynasty status.

Time will tell what this loss means for the Chiefs. Mahomes remains the best quarterback in the sport but it will be hard to forget how, for a night, the Eagles made him look mortal.

The post 2025 NFL Offseason Primer: Kansas City Chiefs appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.