ArrowChop: Should the Chiefs resign Sammy Watkins after the season ends?

With Watkins being unavailable yet again, should the Chiefs let him walk after the Super Bowl?

Hello again everyone and welcome to another week of the ArrowChop! This is the column where we look at the positives/negatives of a certain Chiefs/NFL issue and look at both sides of the aisle. Then you, the readers, will come to your conclusions after I lay out the case. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as we breakdown this week’s hot topic.

The Chiefs’ have officially advanced to a second-consecutive Super Bowl appearance after whooping the Bills 38-24. These came off the heels of stellar performances from Tyreek Hill, who had nine catches for 172 yards, and Travis Kelce, who had 13 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns. This was their second straight performance of totaling 100+ yards each in a playoff game; they’re an unstoppable duo that the Bucs will have trouble dealing with yet again.

Another Chiefs’ receiver, Mecole Hardman, came up big after muffing a punt that led to a Bills’ touchdown. He had a 50-yard run and a three-yard touchdown catch that gave the Chiefs their first points of the game. One receiver wasn’t out on the field yet again; it was none other than Sammy Watkins.

Watkins is on a one-year, $9 million deal that will end after the Super Bowl, but many fans raise the concern that the Chiefs’ should let him walk and look for another WR2. The question that is now raised is if should the Chiefs’ resign Watkins after the season ends? Let’s break down both sides of the aisle to find out:

The Chiefs should resign Watkins

People on this side of the argument say this because he comes up clutch when the Chiefs need him to. Super Bowl LIV is a prime example of this where he got behind Richard Sherman and made a clutch catch that gave the Chiefs momentum to win it all. As the video title says, Watkins changed Super Bowl LIV in the Chiefs’ favor. He’s kind of like Frank Clark; he does do as much as expected in the regular season, but when it comes time for the playoffs, that’s where they truly show up.

Also, with Watkins on the field, it gives defenses another threat to cover. Watkins didn’t have a lot of “high” receiving yard games, but with him on the field, he still poses a threat that could break out at any time. This gives Kelce and Hill more opportunities to be open, and if it’s vice versa, it gives Watkins more time to be open as well.

The Chiefs should not resign Watkins

One side of this case that’s valid is that he’s injury-prone. This season, he has missed six games due to injuries and he’s missed the divisional and championship rounds due to said injuries. In his first season with the Chiefs, he missed six weeks with the Chiefs’ yet again and two seasons ago, he missed two games. It seems as though he’s on the injury report every single day, and for any team, you need someone to be out there consistently; sadly, Watkins hasn’t been doing that.

Another point is that he doesn’t put up great stats for his price tag. Even though the Chiefs have Kelce and Hill, you’d expect more than 421 receiving yards from your #2 receiver. To add more insult to injury, you’d expect a #2 WR to have more than 42.1 average yards per game, especially since he’s being paid $8 million guaranteed this year.

Even in 2019, we expected a breakout year from Watkins when he had 198 yards and three touchdowns in the first week of the season; however, he didn’t catch another touchdown the rest of the year and only had 475 receiving yards in the other 13 games he played that year.

The third and final vital point is that the free-agent market will be littered with talent in the offseason. You have Allen Robinson, who puts up immaculate stats with mediocre/terrible QBs, Chris Godwin, who has proven to be a threat on the Bucs roster, Kenny Golladay, who had two 100+ yard games before he was injured and had two straight 1000-yard years, and had 11 receiving touchdowns in 2019.

There are also other honorable mentions like Juju and T.Y. Hilton. All of these receivers had (or could’ve had) better years than Watkins, respectively. This is not to trash Watkins in any way, as he’s a good receiver, but there’s too much talent out there to not take a chance.

Do you think Watkins should be resigned by the Chiefs after this season? Leave a comment down below to join the discussion. Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic day!