Certain types of free agents make more sense than others

During the last few offseasons, the Chiefs added some cornerstone pieces during free agency. Anthony Hitchens, Sammy Watkins, Damien Wilson, Alex Okafor, and Tyrann Mathieu all signed long term deals to form a sort of nucleus in Kansas City. Those types of deals for players outside of the organization are unlikely for this season.

The money that would be spent on those types of free-agent contracts is now going to be spent on those currently on the team that hadn’t been signed to long term extensions. They’re rewarding players for their Super Bowl-winning effort and keeping as much of this team together as they can. This doesn’t mean the Chiefs won’t add players in free agency, it just means they aren’t looking for those same types of multi-year contracts.

So what types of players are they looking for? I’d break them down into a few categories. First, you’ll see veteran players who are chasing a championship interested in joining Kansas City. We’re talking about players who think they have one last ride in them. Maybe they’ve played for one team their entire career, made a boatload of money and are hitting free agency for the first time. Whatever the case, the Chiefs could grab a few of these guys.

Next up, you have the prove-it deal players. These guys will come out of the woodwork for Kansas City. They’ll see what happened with Bashaud Breeland, Blake Bell and others who bet on themselves and ended up winning Super Bowl LIV. These could be players coming off an injury, suspension, or simply a bad stretch of play. Maybe they’ve never been good in the NFL and just need the right coaching situation.

Finally, you have the players that just want to win. Don’t expect players to take a discount to play with the Chiefs, but be happily surprised if it happens. I’d be willing to bet there is someone out there who thinks they can make more money with endorsements playing alongside Patrick Mahomes than being paid more to play on the team that has to play against him.