In the new age of the NFL, more players are earning big bucks. At the onset of free agency, teams with money to spend used their cap space riches to lure some of the game’s best players to new teams. However, in the end, not many of their new teams have the juice to succeed in the post-season. So why not come to Kansas City and win a ring?
To date, the Kansas City Chiefs have been small free-agent spenders. Granted, they re-signed many defensive players, including Chris Jones and Drue Tranquill, to their 2024 roster, but only on big-splash signing has followed.
Hollywood Brown was the rare exception. He signed a one-year deal that could earn him $11 million this season. He also took much less money to play with Patrick Mahomes than better deals from other NFL teams. His reason was simple! He wants to win a Super Bowl and knows the Chiefs are the best team to use his skills in a manner that guarantees a legitimate chase for their Three-Peat aspirations.
As free agency winds down this month, several players are available for the Chiefs. Thanks to their trade with the Tennessee Titans, which sent Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to the AFC South team for a 2025 third-round pick, General Manager Brett Veach has nearly $28 million in available cap space.
One player on the market, Odell Beckham, Jr., has been flirting with the Chiefs for three seasons. Currently, he has an offer on the table from the Miami Dolphins. They already have a crowded, expansive receiver room, so I’m unsure how OBJ fits the Dolphins. Further, why would you want to catch passes from Tua Tagovailoa instead of Patrick Mahomes?
Tua is an average quarterback at best, and based on his play this past season, he needs to handle the pressure better in clutch games outside of Miami. Mahomes can win anywhere!
I’m not saying OBJ is coming to Kansas City, but why aren’t others knocking at the Chiefs’ door?
Of the free agents available, running back JK Dobbins, cornerback Xavier Howard, whom the Chiefs nearly traded for three years ago, and Stephon Gilmore and safety Justin Simmons come to mind Each of the five players I mentioned, all fit the Chiefs’ needs. If any of them sign, they’ll instantly improve their Super Bowl chances compared to any other team in the NFL that might pay them more than Kansas City.
The immediate rush of free agency is excellent for the fan base because it riles them with possibilities for January glory. Only a few AFC teams have improved marginally, but more is needed to challenge the Chiefs for the Conference Crown.
Kansas City is the mecca of the NFL right now. The Chiefs are an updated version of the New England Patriot Dynasty and are hated by the rest of the rank and file. They are the team everyone wants to beat, and on occasion, they do just that, but in the postseason under the Mahomes era, that’s only happened THREE out of 18 times.
You can add all the AFC quarterbacks’ post-season records, and it would not come close to what Mahomes has done alone.
So why aren’t more veterans clamoring to play with the Chiefs?
Kansas City has won three of the last six Super Bowl games, two in a row, and on paper, is a better team today than when it defeated the San Francisco 49ers 26-23 in Super Bowl LVIII.
The AFC West combatants, the Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos, are significantly worse on paper than last season. All three division rivals are attempting massive roster overhauls, coaching changes, and overcoming salary cap hell to compete with the Chiefs.
I hate to tell them, but none will be a .500 team in 2024. That’s not to say they can’t defeat the Chiefs in the regular season, as we saw last year, but to challenge for a division title, there is no chance.
During his tenure as General Manager, Brett Veach only had a little cap space at this stage of free agency. Now, he could use some of that financial breathing room to extend contracts for Trey Smith, Creed Humphries, and Nick Bolton, but they are all under team control through the 2025 season.
For now, his best action is to wait and see which players are interested in joining the Chiefs. At this stage of the free agent process, he does not have to overpay for anyone.
The NFL Draft is a month away, and Veach has rebuilt so much of the roster with three straight successful drafts that he can get younger while still paying his premium players and signing others.
So, players like OBJ and Simmons must survey the field to decide if the ring is better than the coin.
