The Kansas City Chiefs will continue on their successful path regardless of their pending free agents, team needs, draft picks, and salary cap space. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid won’t allow a complete fall from grace. That said, they’re actually in a pretty comfortable spot after last season’s trip to free agency and the 2021 NFL Draft. It was indeed a “rich get richer” situation.
Kansas City Chiefs 2022 Offseason Preview
The Chiefs struck gold during the 2021 offseason. First, they cut Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher, sending every national media pundit into a tizzy over Mahomes’ lucrative contract. Surely, that was the reason Kansas City cut the two veterans, right?
Well, they ended up paying big money to Joe Thuney in free agency and then traded for Orlando Brown. With the selections of Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, the offensive line rebuild was complete, all in a matter of two months. And it came back in 2021 better than in 2020.
The Chiefs have $15.4 million in projected cap space
Source: Spotrac (as of Jan. 30)
The Chiefs currently have the 17th-most cap space heading into next season. However, they can free up nearly $22 million by cutting Frank Clark and Anthony Hitchens. Additionally, they can use the flexibility built into Mahomes’ contract to convert his roster bonus to a signing bonus if they want to free up more space.
Kansas City owns a top-heavy roster. There is no denying that fact — their top-five player contracts for 2022 account for 61.41% of the total cap for next year. Luckily for them, they shouldn’t have to fight too hard to re-sign most of their contributors.
Chiefs’ pending free agents
Tyrann Mathieu and Orlando Brown are the two biggest names looking for long-term financial support during the offseason, but they’re two of a slew of pending free agents for the Chiefs.
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Jarran Reed, Charvarius Ward, Mike Hughes, Melvin Ingram, and Derrick Nnadi are all defenders looking for new contracts in 2022. Daniel Sorensen is also a free agent, which isn’t necessarily bad for the Chiefs but does add a need for them, especially if they struggle to retain the Honey Badger. Josh Gordon, Demarcus Robinson, and Byron Pringle are all pending free agents on offense, adding to Kansas City’s possible team needs.
Chiefs’ team needs
Unlike a few of the other top teams that won’t need much to retool in the offseason, the Chiefs once again have a list of positions to address heading into 2022. They have at least the possibility of losing their left tackle, game-breaking safety, two starting cornerbacks (Rashad Fenton can replace one), three wide receivers, a defensive tackle, and two edge rushers. They can use their cap space to pay some of them, but they can’t have it all.
If they allow Brown to leave, which seems unlikely, then left tackle immediately becomes their most pressing need. If not then, defense will rightly be the focus, with wide receiver a nice-to-have focus.
Chiefs’ top five needs in the 2022 NFL offseason
- Defensive tackle
- Edge rusher
- Cornerback
- Safety
- Wide receiver
Chiefs’ 2022 NFL Draft picks
The Chiefs traded away their first-round pick for Brown a year ago, so they didn’t lose any high-end picks from 2022. They didn’t miss their first-rounder in 2021 much because they had two late seconds. One of them turned into an All-Pro as a rookie, and the other was quite good also. Here is how the Chiefs’ 2022 picks look based on the current NFL Draft order.
- Round 1
- Round 2
- Round 3
- Round 4
- Round 6
- Round 7 x 5
Kansas City Chiefs 2022 Offseason Preview: Pending free agents, team needs, draft picks, and more - Pro Football Network
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