Coming off the loss of a Super Bowl in a lopsided fashion, the Chiefs have issues that clearly need to be addressed moving forward. We just learned that the 2021 salary cap floor is $180 million instead of the expected $175 million. For reference, the 2020 cap was $198 million and obviously took a hit due to the Covid-19 season.
With this number being lower and expected to rise substantially for the 2022 season, some very good players will be potentially looking to take 1-year prove-it deals banking on themselves and playing in front of lots of viewers such as primetime games and playoff games. This obviously benefits the Chiefs because they will have a lot of televised games and more likely than not will be in the hunt for a playoff run. Listed below are four guys I think the Chiefs should take a nice gander at:
Allen Robinson
A-Rob has been destroying defenses with um, less than stellar quarterback play throughout his career. For a receiver, I can only imagine the frustration that must come with this. A contested-catch beast, Robinson had 102 catches for 1,250 yards and 6 TD’s with Nick Foles and money makin’ Mitch Trubisky throwing him the rock.
After the Super Bowl, Robinson tweeted “No cap, I want a ring” while also tweeting “win, lose or draw… 15 is the truth!!!”. One thing Veach will do is give Mahomes weapons to play with. Amongst the myriad of issues in the Super Bowl, Tampa spent a lot of time bracketing Hill and Kelce, other receivers simply were not getting open or making plays.
Robinson filling in that WR2 role, hell even potentially WR1 is almost guaranteed to fix that problem. Strengthening the receiving corps moving forward is critical and what better than a 6’3 220lbs receiver who can make tough catches and get open as well as make tough contested catches consistently.
Another quality red-zone target, per PFF, Robinson had 51 targets and 0 drops in the red zone. That reliability would help significantly. This would also allow Robinson to unlock another part of his game because competent QB play definitely matters.
Curtis Samuel
Not to beat a dead horse, but the receiver from Carolina would be a great addition to this offense. Samuel isn’t just a receiver but an offensive weapon. Chiefs fan I’m sure remember Samuel’s stellar performance against us and this would allow us to be so creative with our weapons while also bringing in a receiver with reliable hands and pretty good route running.
Samuel spent time in the backfield, out wide, and in the slot and wouldn’t expect anything different here. Per pro football reference, quarterbacks in 2020 posted a 109.2 passer rating when targeting Samuel. With 4.31 speed, give Patrick Lavon Mahomes more weapons and let him cook in 2021. I think Samuel would come in and comfortably be WR2 in this offense, more importantly, a major weapon.
Von Miller
The Broncos have a club option on Miller and there was a report that they might decline their option. If so, I definitely think the Chiefs should take a gander. Miller is coming off an ankle injury keeping him out of the 2020 season, and 2019 was his least productive season. He was still a very good player, posting 37 pressures, which was 12th in the league according to pro football reference.
We need pass rush help, and that was evident most of the season especially during the Super Bowl and I think Miller is someone to definitely take a look at. 2019 was the first season in his career in which he didn’t post double-digit sacks while starting 9+ games. Adding Miller, would help out Clark and Jones a lot and give another reliable pass-rushing option. Not to mention, he’d make up for Neil Smith leaving for the Broncos in ‘97.
Trent Williams
Last but certainly not least, the offensive line position has to be addressed. The Chiefs are in a weird spot due to injuries and opt-outs coming back. We haven’t seen Lucas Niang play a pro snap, LT Fisher tore his Achilles in late January and Schwartz has been out since week 6. He was clearly hurting the entirety of the snaps that he did play. LDT also opted-out to help battle Covid-19, and he is a guy who will never get enough credit for being a hero off the field. He hasn’t been very consistent on the field since his injury in 2017.
This obviously led to the exposing of the rest of the Chiefs’ offensive line during the Super Bowl. I fully expect the Chiefs to address this position with probably a couple of picks in the draft, but there are still 5 slots to fill and at the very least, for this offense competent tackle play is essential.
Trent Williams is coming off of a stellar season with the 49ers and is 33 years old. I’m not sure of his intentions but playing for the Chiefs on a one-year deal with the potential of winning a Super Bowl could help reel him in.
Point blank, Eric Fisher is a large man coming off an Achilles injury and I’m not sure about that recovery time, not to mention the Chiefs could save around 12 million dollars if they cut him and that’s the reality of the business side of things. The Chiefs have to address the tackle position because to get where this franchise wants to go, Mahomes cannot be under duress like he was in the Super Bowl. Future Hall of Famer Trent Williams could ease that burden protecting Mahomes’ blindside.
