The Kansas City Chiefs will play their 2025 finale on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. Although neither team is going to the playoffs, both the Chiefs and the Raiders have draft position at stake.
I’m really torn about watching the outcome of Sunday’s season finale between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders. With a loss, the Chiefs would get the 8th pick in the NFL draft. If the Raiders lose, they could get the top overall pick to select their future starting quarterback.
The Raiders have already benched their best players, and the Chiefs will do the same. In fact, Sunday is likely to be the final game for about 20 players, some of whom have already posted goodbyes, and it will put an emphatic exclamation point on a season gone wrong.
The Chiefs are in a unique position to use the 2025 season as a learning curve and an awakening that what worked over the last seven years will not work moving forward. If this organization, beginning on Sunday in Las Vegas, can adopt the big picture, it could come back in 2026 with a healthy quarterback, a new offensive philosophy, and a more aggressive defense built on speed, and regain the top spot in the AFC West.
If they don’t learn from their mistakes, the Chiefs are unlikely to be relevant again until they replace their entire coaching staff with one that recognizes the NFL landscape has changed and that the current group didn’t adapt.
The Chiefs have the resources to regain their foothold as the team to beat in the AFC, but Head Coach Andy Reid has refused to adapt to the changing landscape of opposing defenses that no longer fear his outdated offense.
With Matt Nagy likely headed to Tennessee to become the Titans’ new coach, Steve Spagnuolo will be a finalist for the New York Giants’ job, and other members of the staff should be let go this coming week.
Mahomes is already ahead of schedule in his rehab, and Travis Kelce appears to have already informed the Chiefs of his decision to play in 2026. Additionally, key free-agent defenders like Leo Chenal and Jaylen Watson have already posted goodbyes on social media. Hence, it’s reasonable to assume some current players understand they won’t be offered contracts in 2026.
If that’s the case, I applaud the Chiefs for already having a direction and for beginning the process of reshaping their 2026 roster. So now they face the task of shaking things up and holding each of them accountable.
No man has more pressure on the job than General Manager Brett Veach. Sources have confirmed that he’s taken point on finding a new offensive coordinator and has been discussing contract adjustments for both Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones. Both have enormous cap numbers, and Veach may have to adapt to changes in how he structures future contracts with voidable years.
There’s a lot to unpack about the 2025 season, but it was clear from the opener that this team was out of sync and stuck in their old ways, which cost them a chance to earn their fourth straight Super Bowl trip.
So that brings us to Las Vegas on Sunday and to why it’s so essential that the Chiefs have a Top Ten Pick. The NFL Draft is a crapshoot regardless of the round, but at the 8th spot, they could be in the running for Notre Dame Running Back Jeremyiah Love and Texas Tech Pass Rusher David Bailey.
If Kansas City wins, it could fall to the 12th pick and miss out on a game-changing player. That sounds crazy, but very few Top-10 picks fail in the NFL. This draft is not deep at running back, tight end, or game-changing pass rushers, so the advantage of picking higher is that the Chiefs can address one of these critical roster needs.
So, when you’re watching the game on Sunday, and you want to see the young players have their NFL moment, hope they are laying the groundwork for more playing time in 2026, showing just enough to shape the offseason ahead.
