Have your priorities changed at all?
I think we hit a point in the season where we all clearly felt that OL and LB were huge needs to be addressed in the off season.
This was probably before the 7 game winning streak, where both the OL and the defense in general has played much better. So my question is, has this changed your priorities for the Chiefs this off season/draft? My gut feeling now is that the Chiefs will have a lot more flexibility in the draft to just add quality players, rather than being too restricted by specific needs. |
Nope my priorities have not changed for next season. If you look at 2020 roster and contracts it gives you some perspective of needs and what KC needs to do.
Just looking at contracts, CB is a huge need, either re-signing some of our people or drafting them. Draft Priority (of course actual draft results could vary according to the talent available in draft) 1 CB 2 LB 3 OL 4 S 5 CB |
OFFENSE
3) QB – Patrick Mahomes $5.226 M, 5th year option Matt Moore UFA Age 36 Chad Henne UFA Age 35 Kyle Shurmer PS – Sign to a futures contract. Priority: New contract for Patrick Mahomes. Need to re-sign backup QB from Henne or Moore. 4/5) RB – Damien Williams $2.833M Darwin Thompson $626K, $717K, $807K Darrel Williams IR $665K LeSean McCoy UFA Age 32 Anthony Sherman UFA Spencer Ware UFA Elijah McGuire PS – Sign to a futures contract. Mike Weber PS – Sign to a futures contract Priority: Re-sign Anthony Sherman and Elijah McGuire. Extend Darrel Williams. 5) WR – Tyreek Hill $17.650M, $15.695M, $20.5M Sammy Watkins $21 M (Could save $14M by cutting) Demarcus Robinson UFA Mecole Hardman $1.135M, $1.362M, $1.589M Byron Pringle $585K – Need to Extend Gehrig Dieter PS Jody Fortson PS Felton Davis IR $512K, $602K Marcus Kemp IR ERFA Re-sign if recovered from knee injury. Priority: New contract for Watkins or release. Either re-sign Robinson or draft WR. Dependent on what happens with Sammy Watkins and Demarcus Robinson, maybe sign Free Agent WR. 9) OL – Eric Fisher $15.231M, $14.681M Andrew Wylie ERFA Austin Reiter $2.758M Laurent Duevernay-Tardif $9M, $9.250M, $8.5M Mitchell Schwartz $10.820M, $10.005M Cam Erving $4.681M – cutting saves $3.250M Stefen Wisniewski UFA Nick Allegretti $622K, $713K, $803K Jackson Barton $585K Ryan Hunter $585K Martinas Rankin $724K, $807K Greg Senat $660K, $750K Priority: Need to improve interior line. Draft OL. re-sign Wisniewski and one FA from below list. Free Agent Interior linemen B.J Finney 28, 6-4, 318,Pittsburgh Steelers. Played at K-State Connor McGovern 27, 6-4, 306,Denver Broncos. Played at Missouri Brandon Scherff 28, 6-5, 315,Washington Redskins. Played at Iowa. Ereck Flowers 26, 6-6, 330, Washington Redskins. Played at U of Miami (FL) Andrus Peat 26, 6-7, 316, New Orleans Saints. Played at Stanford. Evan Boehm 27, 6-3, 321, Miami Dolphins. Played at Missouri. Graham Glasgow 28, 6-6, 310, Detroit Lions, Played at Michigan. Max Garcia 28, 6-4, 309, Arizona Cardinals. Played at Florida. 3) TE – Travis Kelce $10.468M, $9M Blake Bell UFA Deon Yelder ERFA David Wells IR ERFA John Lovett IR $510K, $675K Nick Keizer PS Priority: Re-sign Blake Bell as your blocker and determine best 3rd TE with John Lovett, Deon Yelder, Nick Keizer, and David Wells. DEFENSE 9) DL – Frank Clark $22.7M, $24,2M, $24.7M, $26.2M Chris Jones UFA Derrick Nnadi $1.016M, $1.118M Xavier Williams UFA Khalen Saunders $888K, $989K, $1.072M Tanoh Kpassagnon $1.374M Mike Pennel UFA Demone Harris $660K Braxton Hoyett PS Devaroe Lawrence PS Tim Ward NFI $586K, $676K Emmanuel Ogbah IR UFA Alex Okafor IR $6.956M, $7.950M Breeland Speaks IR $1.663M, $1.941M Terrell Suggs FA (Void) Priority:Re-sign or Franchise Tag Chris Jones. Re-sign Mike Pennel and Emmanuel Ogbah. 6) LB – Anthony Hitchens $12.724M, $10.724M, $12.724M Darron Lee UFA Damien Wilson $3.875M Reggie Ragland UFA Ben Niemann $662K Dorian O’Daniel $892K, $985K Emmanuel Smith PS Darius Harris NFI $588K, $678K Priority: Need starting ILB. Re-sign Reggie Ragland. Draft LB. Sign Joe Schobert Cleveland Browns FA ILB Free Agent ILB Joe Schobert 26 Cleveland Browns, Wisconsin 4) S – Tyrann Mathieu $16.333M, $19.733M Armani Watts $827K, $918K Jordan Lucas UFA Daniel Sorensen $4.750M – cutting saves $3.750M Juan Thornhill IR $1.048M, $1.258M, $1.469M Priority: Look at late round draft or low cost free agent. 6) CB – Kendall Fuller UFA Charvarius Ward $660K Bashaud Breeland UFA Morris Claiborne UFA Rashad Fenton $633K, $723K, $813K Alex Brown $585K Chris Lammons PS Keith Reaser IR RFA Priority:BIG NEED…extend Ward, re-sign Breeland, try to re-sign Fuller. Draft CB early. SPECIAL TEAMS P Dustin Colquitt $2M cutting saves $1.350M Age 37 22nd in Net/Avg K Harrison Butker $3.195M, $3.940M, $4.2M, $4.4M, $3.84M LS James Winchester $970K, $995K Priority: Need Draft or CFA to compete for punter position against Dustin Colquitt. Contract info - https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/kansas-city-chiefs/ |
Nice work Wilson8
I agree, nothing has really changed much for me. Before the season started I believed we needed a CB or two more than anything, and I still feel the same way. Frankly I've been in the trade Jones camp for a while because I think the picks you gain really go along way in managing the cap and injecting young talent on the line and elsewhere. |
speaking draft/UDFA only:
I think you've gotta draft and develop corners constantly. They're a really expensive position to fill in free agency. So I'd draft one every year, and probably bring in a UDFA or two as well. I think it's time to put some serious investment in the offensive line. I think it's time to invest in the LB corps. a mid rounder on a RB seems prudent. |
Schobert would be nice, but they're paying Hitchens a lot so i'm not sure a free agent there works. Probably need to draft and develop there.
I would look to spend at Cb or G. |
My wants vs. needs haven't changed much.
I'd still like to see an upgrade at MLB but know that Hitchens is playing credible football so it seems like a long-shot. I'd still like to see an investment made at OT to get some young blood up to speed as Schwartz/Fisher start to decline and/or get more expensive but I know that we have some other, more pressing issues to address. I'd still like to get a potential game-changer at TE2 w/ the ability to level up our 2 TE sets (which we run as much as anyone in the league) and complement/replace Kelce if need be but this just doesn't seem to be the right draft for it. I'd still like to see a more physical X receiver brought in to replace Watkins so that Hardman can maintain his role as a dynamic presence and part-time Y but figure that they'll probably focus on developing Pringle/Kemp if possible. I do think an immediate infusion of potential high-end talent on the IOL remains as critical as ever. Reiter has steadied himself into merely below average over the last several weeks with moments of genuinely good play. Wiz has made Wylie look as awful as we thought he was and may present a nice veteran stop-gap but is aging and should still be layered if possible. LDT needs to be cut. Chris is right, DBs are expensive, have steep learning curves and high bust rates. If you can get one w/ a good value, get one. And in either event you should bring at least one in every season in the late rounds anyway. Thornhill's injury will set back his development given how late in the season it was and Mathieu is effectively on a 2-year deal anyway w/ an expensive team option for the 3rd. It might be a real good idea to find someone that can step in for Thornhill early in the season as he continues his recovery and then replace Mathieu in 2022/23. A 4-3 team should ALWAYS be looking for the right DE or rotational depth. Like CB, we should be beating the bushes for one of these guys in pretty much every draft and if we have a shot at a value pick in the 1st, take him. RB? **** man, I dunno. Williams looks like he doesn't suck again but I'll just never trust the guy. Again, wait for the value and if its there, take it. So I'd say I've had a small change in my thoughts at RB and safety, maybe a little bit at IOL but not a ton. Bottom line is that your view on the draft really shouldn't change a whole lot over the course of a year because needs shouldn't be addressed in the draft unless you've done something really wrong. The draft is for development and if you're lucky someone pops early (Thornhill). A strong 6 week run shouldn't change what we saw with this team over the previous 10. The roster hasn't changed, nor should the plan. |
It's just setup to really take guys at the back of the round that drop for certain reasons and not really worry about positions. Just keep stocking talent, fill holes with FA and go from there.
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That's why I was hard-up on Hockenson last year - I'd gotten focused on him specifically because I wanted to add an additional wrinkle by increasing the use of 12 personnel to help out the running game. I might make a reach pick if it's not because of a need specifically, but rather because of an overarching impact the player could have across the board. I thought similarly with Nassir Adderley because I thought he could be the sort of dynamic complement to Mathieu that would make the secondary completely matchup proof - turns out that Thornhill gave the same thing WITHOUT a need to jump early. |
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Other than QB or RB there really isnt' a pick in the first round at 32 that will upset me. A guard? Cool. A LBer, whatever good job. Just keep taking good players and figure the rest out later. |
I think this is an easy answer that we already have the answers to.
Veach tried to trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick despite having Honey Badger, Thornhill and Fuller. We know Spags likes to blitz and confuse. That means you need strong secondary players who are versatile enough to play everywhere, thus confusing QB’s with a variety of different coverages. Fuller is likely going to get a nice payday that we should not pay, and Thornhill won’t be back u til around mid season IMO so his replacement is imperative. IOL is the other issue. It says a lot that Rankin and now Wiz have started over Wylie. Hopefully we can bring Wiz back on the cheap, get Rankin back and add another piece or two to that unit. |
I was screaming center before the season and I'm screaming center now. So, no they have not.
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Might be available in the second... |
Nope. I still think TE2/OTF is a high-key low-key need. Not so much for the needed boost to offense, although Gronk/Hernandez domination would be badass.... but more for the insurance God forbid Kelce get hurt. And he's not getting younger.
MLB is a huge need. We have monsters inside on the DL, a monster on the edge in Clark, a monster in the backfield in Mathieu and an emerging Thornhill.... but the center of our defense could use a monster. CB is still a big need but I think having a good coach and throwing moderate/decent veterans has been a good approach this year. Spags' influence is immeasurable. Factor in Fenton's unlikely performance, Reaser's potential return and Ward's increased confidence (plus his upcoming lasik surgery this offseason), and I don't think the house is on fire as it was earlier this season. Still need a "dude" though. Interior OL can always get better. Have to protect the franchise. RB of the future would be nice. I have faith in Veach to find this anywhere in the draft. Not sure Darwin is bright enough or big enough to be "the dude" down the line, but he'll hopefully progress in year 2. We saw what Mahomes can do when we have a terrifying RB in Hunt; I'd like to find the Edge James to his Peyton for the next 5-7 years. ***Also important to note that Free Agents will want to play with MVPat and it will put us in great position to win guys over even if we aren't the highest bidder.*** |
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My question about him, is what is his injury history? I would love to find a durable guy to lock down that position for Mahomes for the foreseeable future. |
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LDT just gets hurt too much to make what he makes.
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Running Back is moving up my priority list.
ILB, RB, CB, OL - in that order probably. Biggest variable is the Chris Jones situation. |
Creating an offense so unstoppable that no defense could possibly stop it is a good direction to go. Upgrading at RB, another TE, and WR would be nice. But all of those are luxuries. I think most of that can be covered in free agency and mid draft.
But overall, I think we need to invest in the defense as much as possible. Because another direction to go is putting the nastiest defense you can behind Mahomes and good luck beating that. For the draft, I think it is about analyzing the marginal benefits you could acquire elsewhere. Like if it's marginally better than someone we could get in a later round or free agency, we can wait. So I still say BPA like others here. If we want to prioritize the O Line or D Line as needs, or corners/ILB, that is important. But we don't need to draft them early necessarily unless there is a truly game changing player in that position. Across multiple positions, there likely will be that. Just trust the scouting and go for players we believe will have the most impact. I'm sure we will have our eyes on gems we can get in later rounds or free agency. Every draft is different, but it's typically easier to find gems later when it comes to offensive weapons, especially with Mahomes setting you up. |
They haven't really changed all that much.
1. Address pass rusher. Either re-sign Jones and/or Ogbah or you have to do something in the draft. I think the team is a better run defending team without Jones on the field, but without a competent edge out there they lose significantly in the pass rush. Have to keep the trenches strong. My opinion is to re-sign Ogbah, tag and trade Jones, and use a draft pick at each spot. 2. IOL. Way too much pressure gets to Mahomes up the middle from all three positions. I don't know if LDT is playing hurt this year or if he regressed and the rest just kinda suck. I'm okay with Rankin and a re-signing of Wiz to fill LG but OC is a huge problem and there needs to be another piece that could start at either guard spot, especially RG. Probably a case of sign one and draft one. Detroit's Glasgow makes the most sense given he's a good player at both OG and OC which frees you up to make a choice of bpa at either position in the draft. 3. LB. Hitchens is terrible. I'd June 1 designate him and go after Schobert hard if the Browns don't franchise him. If Schobert doesn't hit the market, I'd go after Kwiatkoski. Hell, I'd consider strongly going for both. If not both, either case you're looking at trying to find a WLB for the future in the draft. 4. CB. Too many pieces set to hit the market here. The Chiefs have to get 3 CBs in some way and they obviously can't all come from the draft. I'd say re-sign/sign 2 at minimum. I would prefer they do draft 1. 5. RB. I don't think bringing back Shady is a good thing and the rest of the stable aside from Damien is relatively unproven. I'd prefer to have a hammer you can rely on coming from day 2 but all the other needs may trump it depending on what happens with Jones. 6. WR. Need to cut Watkins and Robinson is a FA. The Chiefs are thin after their top 4 of Hill, Hardman, Watkins, and Robinson. Need to bring back Robinson and draft one or draft a couple. Might be seeing another healthy dose of UDFAs this year here. |
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Too many injuries and he simply hasn't improved. We signed him to that deal betting on the come; figuring his best football was in front of him and he'd grow into his paycheck. He hasn't. He has probably even regressed a bit (even giving him credit for his current level of performance as his normal). Next year he'll be being paid as one of the top Gs in football but he just isn't. He may be passable but he's not worth the $9 million he's owed even considering inflation at the position. Especially when you can't count on him giving you more than 10-12 games/season. |
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Lot of interesting responses to this, thanks all.
I agree with a lot of DJ's "likes" for ways to improve the Chiefs, I guess I was just thinking at one point we were all thinking LB and OL literally had to be addressed at the top of the draft, where as now it feels like there is more room to look for a "nice to have" player and be okay with more developmental players for LB/OL if we don't like what falls to us at the top of the draft. I've been thinking about McKinney in the 1st a lot recently, taking a safety in the 1st sounds insane but he could be "the next Mathieu" and we could have two seasons of him and Mathieu both on the field, which probably opens a world of possibilities for Spags scheme. |
we have Mahomes just entering his prime. Hill locked up for his prime. Kelce in his prime.
Hardman developing and cheap for a few years. We'll score points. We need to restock the OL, and continue to build defense. |
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If we lose Watkins and/or DRob, we can look for a vet WR or two on the cheap that wants to play with Pat. Same with RB. If a truly game changing RB/WR falls to us in the early rounds of the draft, I'd take it. I think it's a similar approach with our defense. I'm not sure what we will do with Chris Jones. But I'd look for quality vets on the cheap that can be solid depth in positions of need. And if anything good falls to us in the draft. As far as if we are going to use any serious capital, it should be to upgrade the offensive line first I think. I'm not sure on the specifics of how it would be possible or what it would take. I just know that if we give Pat a top 5-10 offensive line, good luck to the rest of the league. If it takes trades/free agent signings, we should seriously try to beef it up. And obviously the draft. We have been rumored in trades talks for a CB like last three years. For the right price, I'd still be interested. But our defense is fairly solid at least. I'd mostly go BPA in the draft. But we have the luxury to be opportunistic. We should really try to upgrade the offensive line. |
I see DE as a big need. Okafor and Tanoh can only be here next year before they leave due to money and Ogbah will probably get paid. Assuming we keep Jones, we can’t put more money into the DL. We just can’t.
Either way they both have torn pecs. Not ideal. And I don’t want to rely on Speaks. I know we could use a corner, but if a DL that can rush from outside and inside is there, I think you’ve gotta take that player. |
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Linebacker and corner are needs we have a better chance to fill through free agency or trade if need be. If an elite one fell to us early, we should take it. That is if no great DE would fall to us. A lot of the top offensive linemen are taken early too because there typically aren't a ton with elite potential. I think it depends on the depth of that particular draft. If we can get O line in the mid rounds that we wouldn't rate that much higher, that is the way to go. Same applies to potential running back or WR. It's weird because it feels like we are solid mostly across the board yet could easily upgrade in a lot of areas. I think we have the luxury to go BPA for the most part. And then try to fill the other needs with vets in free agency or potential trades depending on how we handle our contracts/cap. |
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