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Top Offseason Needs of the Kansas City Chiefs
2016 Season Recap
With their first division title in six seasons and back-to-back trips to the divisional round of the playoffs, it’s safe to say that the Chiefs’ 2016 season was one of their better campaigns in recent memory. Then again, the postseason loss to the Steelers exposed the various flaws that the team still has on both sides of its roster.
This offseason will be unkind to Kansas City, who barely has room to operate with about just $4 million in cap space at hand and are at a slight disadvantage with their late position at the upcoming draft. However, given how relatively sound the team has been at developing talent from within, retaining some key free agents and drafting smartly in April are tasks that the head coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs are more than capable of handling well in order to sustain their momentum from the two previous seasons.
Top Free Agency Needs
A couple of big names on Kansas City’s defense stand out as prime free agency targets: three-time first-team All-Pro selection safety Eric Berry and two-time Pro-Bowler nose tackle Dontari Poe.
It’s highly unlikely that the team will be able to keep both players given their respective values on the market. That being said, Berry is the clear-cut choice that needs to be re-signed over Poe. Berry’s role as a disruptive safety both against the pass and the run is too valuable for the KC secondary to lose. His four interceptions in the regular season alone is enough hard evidence on how vital he was for the Chiefs to finish the season with the most turnovers forced in the league.
In order for Berry’s return to pan out, though, the team would have to face the harsh reality of parting with two of its more decorated and tenured players: running back Jamaal Charles and linebacker Derrick Johnson. Both Charles and Johnson are in the twilight of their careers age-wise for their respective positions, and they’ve also suffered significant injuries last year that further degrade their current value.
Charles, who can clear up nearly $7 million on the team’s books, is all but on his way out as we speak to give Kansas City that extra cap room it desperately needs. And if the team can also do something about Johnson and his $8 million on the table, keeping Poe around might be a possibility as well. The Chiefs could also replace Poe with a similarly built DT at a better price in the form of the Eagles’ Bennie Logan or the Giants’ Johnathan Hankins at that.
Top Draft Needs
The Chiefs could go in two directions with their 27th-overall pick at the draft, either by nabbing a cornerback to work alongside Marcus Peters or a wide receiver to shore up the passing game. Iowa’s Desmond King and Clemson’s Cordrea Tankersley are two solid corners that could fall on their laps, while Washington’s John Ross and Ohio State’s Curtis Samuel are two speedy wideouts that could be late first-round steals worth looking out for.
Speaking of the passing game, it’s about time as well for KC to start finding Alex Smith’s successor. Backup QB Nick Foles is also up for about a $10 million payday in 2017, and the team would benefit more from releasing Foles to add more salary cap cushion than keeping him.
With that in mind, Miami’s Brad Kaaya and Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs are third- to fourth-round prospects with different skill sets that the Chiefs can tinker with. Kaaya’s a pocket passer similar to the mold of Smith, which would make for a smoother transition in terms of learning the team’s basic passing plays. Meanwhile, Dobbs has more mobility to open up and change the Chiefs’ current offensive scheme should their typical conservative aerial attack prove to be wholly inefficient once more.
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