The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Josh Simmons to be their starter at left tackle, but Simmons isn't a lock there.
The Kansas City Chiefs supposedly solved their left tackle problem when the drafted Josh Simmons, but apparently that may not be the case. According to report from Sam Robinson of ProFootball Rumors.com, the Chiefs are “monitoring” San Francisco left tackle, who’s been the gold standard at the position for years now, and Taylor Decker is also on Kansas City’s radar.
This isn’t entirely surprising given Simmons’ somewhat problematic performance last year. He was solid when he was healthy, but Simmons also missed a month when he left the team due to personal issues, and a season-ending wrist injury knocked him out late in the year.
Williams will be 38 in July, but he’s still performing well, and he’s been “embroiled” an a wave of contract talks with the 49ers, according to Robinson. San Francisco reworked Williams’ deal a couple of years ago to provide what the writer called a “guarantee influx,” but now the stud tackle’s contract year is approaching and there’s no resolution in site.
Robinson also quoted Jason La Canfora of Casino.com, who indicated that the Chiefs are “ready to pounce” in a trade to acquire Williams if negotiations go south. The 49ers are supposedly intent on doing another deal with the left tackle, but San Francisco has been known to slow-crawl these kinds of negotiations.
The Chiefs supposedly had interest in signing Williams back in 2021 when the 49ers first landed him, but they ended up with the like of Orlando Brown Jr. and Donovan Smith before drafting Simmons.
As for Decker, the Detroit Lions tackle could also be on the table. He’s 33, and Decker requested his release when the ten-year starter couldn’t work out a deal in Detroit. He hasn’t been connected to any team yet, and the Chiefs’ interest in Decker is supposedly not as strong as it could be in Williams.
Then again, this could just be noise to get Simmons’s attention. Rumors like this are often floated out to media types to draw attention, and that could be the case here. The goal would be to remind Simmons that he needs to focus more on staying on the field to keep his job, which would make sense given that Simmons had an injury history when Kansas City drafted him.
A trade for Williams would be a serious all-in move for the Chiefs given his age, but it is possible. The Chiefs are doing an offensive transition this year with quarterback Patrick Mahomes coming off a knee injury, and Williams would help the Chiefs in their efforts to run between the tackles effectively.