The Kansas City Chiefs Offseason
2022 Dream Draft Pick: Chris Olave
The Chiefs traded away Tyreek Hill this offseason after contract talks fell through and got quite the haul for him but that leaves the wide receiver position with a huge hole to fill and the guy that this team hopefully falls to them is Chris Olave out of Ohio State. Olave is the drafts best route-runner in the draft and is the safest receiver pick available and if combined with the live wire arm of Patrick Mahomes throwing him passes Olave can at the vert least give the Chiefs a highly reliable outside option at receiver.
The To-Do List
Resign Tyrann Mathieu and/or Orlando Brown Jr.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a problem in the future and currently is starting to take hold of them as their core players that have been given large contracts are starting to get older and their contracts are starting to get heavier on the cap and the Chiefs are going to have to make tough decisions in the in this offseason however resigning Orlando Brown Jr. and potentially Tyreek Hill shouldn't even be given a debate as both players are among this teams best. Orlando Brown Jr. was traded just before the 2021 NFL draft after making two pro bowls as an offensive tackle for the Ravens and made his third pro bowl in 2021 with the Chiefs and when your quarterback is a Patrick Mahomes, you need to make sure that he has excellent protection and Orlando Brown Jr. is certainly an a great protector on Mahomes's blindside. Orlando Brown Jr.'s presence on the offensive line gave the Chiefs a much better rushing attack and certainly helped in pass protection and he's turning into one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL. Orlando Brown Jr. is probably going to cost a pretty penny to retain at around $20,000,000 per year and while I don't think the Chiefsf can afford that currently, the Chiefs certainly can try and make some moves in order to fit him under the cap because keeping Patrick Mahomes upright is how this team continues their success. Another that they need to sign and could potentially get on a decent contract is safety Tyrann Mathieu whose easily one of the most important players on the Chiefs defense second to only defensive tackle Chris Jones. Tyrann Mathieu has had some injuries in his career and he's turning 30 in 2022 and while I don't he's past his prime, he certainly is getting close to getting over the hump in terms productivity. The team should sign both obviously but if I had to chose it would have to Orlando Brown Jr. because he's a younger and ascending player and plays a more important position than Mathieu. This draft is also full of safeties at the back end that could have a similar impact as Mathieu at a fraction of the cost and the Chiefs should do their due diligence come draft day when scouting the safety position.
Restock the secondary
The Kansas City Chiefs biggest weakness in 2021 was the secondary play that often struggled to keep up with receivers in big moments and force games to be close when they shouldn't have been and getting a decent cornerback in the draft should be among the Chiefs top priorities. And they should even considering getting not just one but two corners as well as a potential safety as this secondary becomes both older and more expensive as L'Jarius Sneed and company start hitting their strides come the contract years and force the Chiefs to let them hit the market. The Chiefs at the 30th pick are likely going to be in line to grab a very good safety like a Daxton Hill or a Jaquan Brisker whose presence in the secondary will be felt both from a coverage standpoint with Daxton Hill being a versatile coverage safety that can play any position on the defense and from a run defense standpoint with Jaquan Brisker whose one of the most feared hitters in the draft among safeties. If cornerback is the way this team wants to go then going after a Kaiir Elam to fill the outside cornerback role with his elite size, length, and athleticism would certainly fill the void left behind by a Charvarious Ward or L'Jarius Sneed or a Trent McDuffie whose easily the best slot cornerback in the NFL draft with his elite tackling, intelligence, and versatility not to mention his coverage skills. The Chiefs have to restock positions in the draft and need to be precise as to how they pick p[layers now that they have team with lots of paid stars throughout and the margin for error when it comes picking players out of college is very small.
Cut Frank CLark
The Chiefs no longer have the cap space to waste on players that don't perform to their contracts and despite Frank Clark coming off of a pro season, he certainly isn't worth his $26,300,000 price tag in 2022 and cutting him to make room for other players on the roster or to retain players, ala Tyrann Mathieu and Orlando Brown Jr., is a must for this team. His pro bowl year in 2021 was in my opinion the fans piling on a very good Chiefs team because their no way a pass rusher with 54.3 overall pff rating and 4.5 sack season should have even sniffed the pro bowl and his production has steadily declined since he got his big money contract and the Chiefs can find free agents at a fraction of the cost that can have the same level of production clark had in 2021. Cutting Clark saves this team over $13,000,000 in cap space with his release from the team which certainly be put towards resigning one of the aforementioned players and even if Clark wants to take a paycut, it would have to be a very big pay cut in order for it to be financially feasible to keep him on the roster. This is the consequences of giving quarterbacks huge sums of money and while Mahomes is certainly worth every penny it squeezes the life out of his team and forces players to look elsewhere for success and employment and the Chiefs have another decade of these decisions before they can renegotiate with their superstar quarterback.