The Kansas City Chiefs won’t have a lot of money to spend in free agency for the 2020 season, but they’ll have a few key spots they could look to fill. One of those spots will come at the tight end position.
It just so happens that a player they replaced in 2019 is now a free agent, just one season into a multi-year contract. The Cleveland Browns have moved on from TE Demetrius Harris ahead of the 2020 league year. The Chiefs spent the 2020 offseason working to replace Harris with various players.
“I think we’re going to be okay,” Reid said of the depth of the tight end position in June. “I would have liked (Deon) Yelder not to have been hurt, but he was… I think that group, again, saw progress. I think putting the pads on, who’s going to be able to play on the line of scrimmage and do what Demetrius (Harris) did there. Who’s going to be able to do that is hard to tell that right now, but we’ll find out.”
Ultimately, the Chiefs chose TE Blake Bell to become the replacement and not just on offense. Bell also took over Harris’ snaps on special teams and did a good job there.
“Right now, Blake Bell is playing all of (Demetrius Harris‘) positions,” Special teams coach Dave Toub explained in August. “Right now, the plan is to have him be that guy. We got a lot of out Demetrius last year. He played three phases for us. I think he had the most special teams plays for a tight end in the whole league. He was setting the bar really high. We are not going to necessarily ask (Bell) to be that guy, but he’s going to be playing a lot of those same positions. He might be just a two-phase guy, but we’ll see.”
Bell is now a Super Bowl champion, and like it or not, that means his price has gone up as a free agent. It’s unlikely that he’ll be back with the Chiefs in 2020.
Harris might be maligned among fans in the Chiefs Kingdom for dropped passes, but the coaching staff and locker room love the guy. In 2018, Harris started three games for Kansas City and appeared in 15 games. He caught 12 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns. He clearly has some chemistry built up with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes.
Because Harris was released from his contract, he is now free to sign with any team, which is important for the Chiefs. He wouldn’t count against the compensatory pick formula and Kansas City should be in line for multiple compensatory picks in 2021.