Fresh off a nightmare season and Patrick Mahomes’ injury, Kansas City climbs to fourth in roster depth by landing star veterans and securing Travis Kelce’s crucial return.
The 2025 season was one of nightmares for the Kansas City Chiefs. Slugging their way to a 6-11 record and having the face of their franchise, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tear his ACL, Kansas City looked far from the team that has dominated the league since the late 2010s.
That made this offseason the most important in recent franchise history. With their quarterback recovering from one of football’s worst injuries and an aging core, the front office in Kansas City had to work its magic this offseason.
With a slew of offseason moves, the Chiefs have found their way back to the top of the league despite a disastrous 2025 season. In The Athletic’s newest post-draft roster rankings, Kansas City ranked fourth in all of football just a few months removed from an 11-loss season.
Kansas City decided they weren’t done competing just yet, buying into the 2026 season despite some uncertainty across the league. The Chiefs made a splash by signing Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III to replace the outgoing Isiah Pacheco – and possibly Kareem Hunt – in the backfield.
Tight end Travis Kelce once again thwarted retirement rumors by signing on a one-year, $12 million deal. By bringing back Kelce, the Chiefs retain their identity and stabilize the offense by keeping the Mahomes-Kelce duo alive, even if Mahomes isn't ready at the start of the year.
Some other additions, such as safety Alohi Gilman and defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga, added depth to the defense. Still, the Chiefs have also endured some key losses so far this offseason.
Cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson both made their way to the Los Angeles Rams earlier this spring, while linebacker Leo Chenal and safety Bryan Cook also found new homes in free agency.
With some huge departures playing a key role in the Chiefs’ offseason, a No. 4 roster ranking seems a bit high, especially considering their lack of success last season.
“It's hard for me to get fully on board with the Chiefs being this high, given their concerns at offensive tackle and wide receiver, but having Mahomes is a huge boost to their projection,” writer Austin Mock said about the surprising ranking.
The ranking comes from Mock’s NFL Projection Model, which uses various metrics and assigns a projection to each player to show their impact on a single game. This means the potential value of Mahomes is doing a lot of heavy lifting for the Chiefs in their ranking, but it is still notable to see the team climb up the rankings during such a crucial offseason.
How that plays out on the field remains to be seen, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Mahomes’ health, but there is positive hope after how poorly last season went. The offseason did well in bringing in enough talent to make the departing players not as hurtful.
With their offseason moves and assuming Mahomes comes back as himself, there really is no ceiling to how good the Chiefs could be. A No. 4 ranking is high, but it goes to show the true potential Kansas City has in its hands. Chiefs fans will be hoping it pans out in 2026 after suffering for much of last season.