The Kansas City Chiefs started the free agency period off slow. In fact, it looked somewhat bleak with the losses of Kendall Fuller, Steve Wisniewski, Emmanuel Ogbah, and Reggie Ragland. However, with the resigning of Demarcus Robinson, Bashaud Breeland, and Anthony Sherman, plus adding the franchise tag to Chris Jones and restructuring Sammy Watkins’ contract, the Chiefs appear to be bringing most of the Superbowl squad back for another run at it.
Here are the moves that they have made to date:
- Resigned wide receiver Demarcus Robinson
- Signed free agent offensive lineman Mike Remmers
- Signed free-agent cornerback and special teams ace, Antonio Hamilton
- Resigned quarterback Chad Henne
- Chiefs placed the franchise tag on defensive end Chris Jones
- Restructured wide receiver Sammy Watkins’ contract
- Signed free-agent tight end Ricky Seals-Jones
- Signed free-agent running back DeAndre Washington
- Resigned fullback Anthony Sherman
- Resigned cornerback Bashaud Breeland
With these moves in place, here is a projection of the 2020 Chiefs depth chart:
OFFENSE
* Indicates new addition
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | |
| QB | Patrick Mahomes | Chad Henne | |
| RB | Damien Williams | Darwin Thompson | *DeAndre Washington/Darrel Williams |
| WR | Tyreek Hill | Demarcus Robinson | |
| WR | Sammy Watkins | Byron Pringle | |
| WR | Mecole Hardman | Gehrig Dieter | |
| TE | Travis Kelce | *Ricky Seals-Jones | Deon Yelder |
| LT | Eric Fisher | Greg Senat | |
| LG | *Mike Remmers | Andrew Wylie | Ryan Hunter |
| C | Austin Reiter | Nick Allegretti | |
| RG | Laurent Duvernay-Tardif | Martinas Rankin | |
| RT | Mitchell Schwartz | *Mike Remmers |
The main thing to point out with this is that Mike Remmers has been a starter everywhere he has been and has played several positions along the offensive line. I have him projected to start over Andrew Wylie at the left guard position.
DEFENSE
*Indicates new addition
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | |
| LDE | Alex Okafor | Tanoh Kpassagnon | Demone Harris |
| LDT | Chris Jones | Khalen Saunders | |
| RDT | Derrick Nnadi | Mike Pennel | |
| RDE | Frank Clark | Breeland Speaks | |
| WLB | Anthony Hitchens | Emmanuel Smith | |
| MLB | Ben Niemann | Darius Harris | |
| SLB | Damien Wilson | Dorian O’Daniel | |
| LCB | Bashaud Breeland | Rashad Fenton | Alex Brown |
| SS | Tyrann Mathieu | Armani Watts | |
| FS | Juan Thornhill | Daniel Sorensen | |
| RCB | Charvarius Ward | *Antonio Hamilton | Chris Lammons |
One key point here is that the Chiefs are bringing most of the squad back on defense. This is remarkable considering that at the beginning of last year, the defense was the weak spot of the organization. Now, they could use a linebacker in the draft and some more competition for nickel cornerback, but it is safe to say that Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo feel confident in this group being able to run it back.
SPECIAL TEAMS
*Indicates new addition
| STARTER | 2ND | |
| PK | Harrison Butker | |
| P | *Tyler Newsome | |
| PR | Mecole Hardman | Tyreek Hill |
| KR | Mecole Hardman | Tyreek Hill |
| LS | James Winchester |
Now, I hope I am wrong with Newsome on this one, but if the Chiefs do cut ties with long-time veteran Dustin Colquitt it would save close to $2 million against the cap. I want to see Colquitt end his career in Kansas City, but as we’ve seen time and time again, the NFL is a business and a harsh one at that.
Obviously, a lot of things can change between now and week one of the NFL. More people can be brought in, trades can be made, and surprise cuts can happen in the preseason. I like what Veach is doing so far and it appears that the Chiefs should be primed to get back to the Superbowl in 2020.
