The Kansas City Chiefs made multiple moves in free agency, and their needs have changed accordingly going forward.
The Kansas City Chiefs have made multiple moves so far this offseason, and they’ve strengthened several positional groups while allowing some key players to leave.
Chiefs Insider Pete Sweeney of the Kansas City Star did an updated list in which he identified the three biggest areas of need after the initial series of moves, so let’s see what he came up with and examine his logic in the reworked list.
3 Offensive tackle
This is still a position of relative strength given the reasonable success achieved by top pick Josh Simmons at left tackle last season, but the release of Jawaan Taylor got Sweeney to add this position to his list in the three hole.
Jaylon Moore is capable on the right side, according to Sweeney, but he’s not impressed with depth options like Isa Pole, Chu Goodrich and Ethan Driskell, which makes sense given how much the offensive line struggled once injuries started to hit. Sweeney also mentioned the possibility that the Chiefs could add a tackle with the ninth pick, which wouldn’t impress the fan base but would still make a lot of sense.
2 Defensive end
This one isn’t surprising given the comments GM Brett Veach made at the NFL combine about improving the pass rush as a major priority. Veach could still do that with a linebacker type, but the Chiefs released Mike Danna, and Charles Omenihu signed with the Washington Commanders, so Kansas City is definitely thin at defensive end.
George Karlaftis and Ashton Gillette are now at the top of the depth chart at defensive end, and the depth options are Felix Anudike Uzomah, who’s entering the final year of his rookie contract, and Ethan Downs, whose only action happened in the final game of the season. It wouldn’t be a stretch to put this need at the top of the list, but Sweeney chose to go in a different direction.
1 Cornerback
This one’s a little surprising, even with the losses the Chiefs suffered when they traded Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams and let Jaylen Watson sign on in LA and join him there. Early rumors had the Chiefs liking some of their depth players to step up and get more time, but evidently Nohl Williams isn’t enough even though he’d likely be the starter if the season opened tomorrow.
The Chiefs added Kader Kohou in free agency, and Sweeney added Kevin Knowles as a player who’s still around, but he thinks Veach will throw numbers as the secondary via the draft, which as similar to how he handled this group back in 2022.