Chiefs break our hearts and lose to New England in the AFC Championship game in another shootout.
Chiefs dump Bob Sutton after a season in which the defense once again fell severely in rank.
Chiefs hire Perry Fewell from the Jacksonville Jaguars as their new defensive coordinator and switch to a 4-3.
Trades
OLB Dee Ford - Chiefs franchise Ford, but then trade him to the New York Jets for a swap of 1st round picks. The Jets hold the 7th overall pick and the Chiefs hold the 30th overall pick.
Cuts
SS Eric Berry - The time has come where the Chiefs have to very seriously entertain the option of cutting Berry. He's available less than he's not and his $16.5 million price tag in 2019 is steep. By cutting Berry with a June 1 designation, the Chiefs free up $9.5 million in cap space in 2019 and $5.5 million in 2020 according to Over The Cap.
Free Agent Signings
CB Ronald Darby (PHI) - 4 years, $56 million, $18 million signing bonus. Darby has routinely been one of the best CBs in the NFL in PBUs and is a solid cover corner that can play man and off-man well, pluse he's a solid tackler. It's doubtful the Eagles re-sign him given that they'll need to make cuts just to operate under the cap, most notably Nick Foles who would give them enough space for the draft. They'll probably be cutting Michael Bennett and Chris Long at DE if they want to do much of anything else.
DE Markus Golden (ARZ) - 3 years, $23 million, $11 million guaranteed with incentives to raise the deal to $40 million. Golden looked like a star in 2016 but a torn ACL in 2017 kept him out most of the season and he's had an off 2018 just 1-year removed from injury. He should be 100% for 2019, so he's well worth the shot of bringing home to Missouri.
TE Maxx Williams (BAL) - 3 years, $9 million, $3.5 million guaranteed. Baltimore has a log jam at TE, so it's more likely than not that they let their former 2nd round pick walk. Williams has talent but has been hampered by injuries throughout his career. He wouldn't have to come in and be the #1 so a more limited snap count would help keep him healthy and allow the Chiefs to have a dynamic 1-2 punch at the position. Williams only turns 25 before the season starts.
Re-Signings
FB Anthony Sherman - 4 years, $8.5 million, $4.5 million guaranteed
FS Jordan Lucas - RFA Original Round Tender, estimated $2.03 million
CB Orlando Scandrick - 1 year, $2 million
RB Spencer Ware - 1 year, $1 million
OG/C Jordan Devey - 1 year $805k + $90k signing (vet min)
OC Austin Reiter - RFA Original Round Tender, est $2.03 million
DE Justin Hamilton - ERFA Tender, est $570k + $30k signing
K Harrison Butker - ERFA Tender, est $570k + $30k signing
WR Marcus Kemp - ERFA Tender, est $570k + $30k signing
TE Alex Ellis - ERFA Tender, est $645k + $30k signing
All PS players on minimal deals
Extensions
WR Tyreek Hill - 5 years $85.0 million with $50.0 million in guarantees, including a $20.0 million signing bonus.
Let Walk
DE Allen Bailey, TE Demetrius Harris, FS Josh Shaw, RB Damien Williams, OC Mitch Morse, FS Ron Parker, WR De'Anthony Thomas, DE Jarvis Jenkins, OLB Frank Zombo, WR Chris Conley, CB Steven Nelson, OLB Nate Orchard, ILB Terrence Smith
Draft
1.
LB Devin White, LSU (6'2" 236) [f/NYJ]
2.
SS Johnathan Abram, Mississippi State (5'11" 210) [f/LAR]
2.
FS Juan Thornhill, Virginia (6'0" 210)
3.
DE Jaylon Ferguson, Louisiana Tech (6'4" 265)
5.
RB Ryquell Armstead, Temple (5'11" 215)
6.
DT Kingsley Keke, Texas A&M (6'4" 305)
7.
TE Cole Herdman, Purdue (6'4" 245)
QB: Patrick Mahomes, Chad Henne, Chase Litton
RB: Kareem Hunt, Spencer Ware, Darrel Williams,
Ryquell Armstead
FB: Anthony Sherman
TE: Travis Kelce,
Maxx Williams,
Cole Herdman, Alex Ellis
WR: Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle, Marcus Kemp, Gehrig Dieter
OT: Eric Fisher, Mitchell Schwartz, Andrew Wylie
OG: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Cameron Erving, Ryan Hunter, Khalil McKenzie
OC: Austin Reiter, Jordan Devey, Jimmy Murray
DT: Chris Jones, Breeland Speaks,
Kingsley Keke
NT: Derrick Nnadi, Xavier Williams, Justin Hamilton
DE: Justin Houston,
Markus Golden, Tanoh Kpassagnon,
Jaylon Ferguson, Rob McCray
LB:
Devin White, Anthony Hitchens, Dorian O'Daniel, Ben Niemann, Reggie Ragland
CB:
Ronald Darby, Kendall Fuller, Orlando Scandrick, Charvarius Ward, Tremon Smith, D'Montre Wade
FS:
Juan Thornhill, Jordan Lucas, Eric Murray, Leon McQuay
SS:
Johnathan Abram, Daniel Sorensen, Armani Watts
ST: Harrison Butker, Dustin Colquitt, James Winchester
[Reply]
I've only seen White play 1 bad game and that was last year against Ole Miss when Greg Little ate his lunch all day long. Other than that, I mean this kid just flies to the football. Actually reminds me most of a faster C.J. Mosley. Veach wanted more athleticism, a faster defense. He's going to love this guy. Whether he wants to go up and get him or not is the question. He's the best I've seen since Pat Willis came out but obviously there's always a chance for a bust.
I don't think there's an argument for not drafting a guy like White because of Hitchens. You need at least 2 starting linebackers and White is that guy that can play weak side, coverage responsibilities. Hitchens is terrible in coverage.
As for Darby, he wasn't a middle-class corner, he's one of the top performers in the NFL. That said, I do agree that KC needs a corner. You use the draft and free agency to fix this defense as a collective. In my mock, I chose to pay for a corner and go and get the rest in the draft. Certainly, the Darby ACL tear puts a huge damper on his performance estimate for next season. He should be recovered, but most players aren't 100% the same season. Now he probably gets a 1-year deal this year, which is unfortunate for him.
The draft to get a corner in was last year's, it was pretty loaded with talent. This year is very average and maybe even less so. Not much speed at the position and not a lot of top-shelf talent. I really, really like DeAndre Baker and Greedy Williams but Williams is damned thin and that's a huge concern. I am less than enamored with most of the rest of the pack but there are a few here and there I like.
[Reply]