For Kansas City Chiefs fans who know their team’s recent draft classes inside out, the 2022 draft class represents a gold standard of sorts. The class contains several valuable players who aren’t necessarily household names across the NFL, but they’ve been part of the Chiefs’ backbone during their long, successful run.
But those players are also facing the possibility of free agency, according to Jesse Newell of The Athletic. The group includes seventh-round cornerback Jaylen Watson, second-round safety Bryan Cook, third-round linebacker Leo Chenal, fourth-round cornerback Joshua Williams, seventh-round running back Isiah Pacheco and seventh-round cornerback Nazeeh Johnson, and not all of them will be back.
Watson is the player in particular going forward. The cornerback is looking for an extension after having an excellent season, and was ranked the 15th-best pending free agent, according to a recent ESPN article. The Chiefs will need to create some cap space to retain him, according to Newell, and Watson said all the right things and seemed to mean them when he mentioned Kansas City as his first choice.
“Those are my brothers for life,” Watson said of the other members of his draft class. “We’ve been through so much — just blood, sweat and tears and hard work together. It’s gonna be tough, everyone going in their different paths. But I enjoyed the time we had together.”
As for Kansas City, his experience with the Chiefs made it even easier to say the right things.
“I would love to. I love Kansas City. I love the fans,” Watson said when asked specifically about staying. “I love everything about it, front office down to the players. I would love to stay here.”
Williams may be further down the NFL food chain as a depth piece and rotational player, but his sentiments were much the same.
“It’s so valuable, not just as a football player, but as a growing man turned into an adult man. I did a lot of growing here in Kansas City,” Williams said. “The city has been great for me. It was a great place to get drafted. They developed me well, and I’m gonna cherish so much since being here.”
Cook, Chenal, Pacheco and Johnson all face variations of the same possible fate, and the Chiefs face an offseason of uncertainty for the first time in a long time. It’s part of the ups and downs of NFL life, but this is definitely a new experience for many of the younger players in Kansas City.