I said before that this team had a killer set up for next year.
I made this case in October.
Originally Posted by Direckshun:
Look at this roster for 2023. It's ****ing madness.
QB: Mahomes, Buechele (RFA)
RB: Pacheco, McKinnon (easy re-sign), Edwards-Helaire
FB: Burton (easy re-sign)
WR: Valdez-Scantling, Moore, Watson (easy re-sign), Ross
TE: Kelce, Gray, Fortson (RFA)
LT: ???, Wanogho (RFA)
LG: Thuney, Wylie (easy re-sign)
C: Humphrey
RG: Smith, Wylie (easy re-sign)
RT: Niang, Wanogho (RFA)
DE: Danna, Kaindoh
DT: Jones, Wharton (RFA)
DT: ???
DE: Karlaftis,
WLB: Gay
MLB: Bolton, Chenal
SLB: Chenal, Cochrane (RFA)
CB: Sneed, McDuffie, Watson, Williams, Johnson
S: Reid, Cook, Bush (easy re-sign)
K: Butker
P: Townsend (RFA)
LS: Winchester
2023 Cap space: $45m with a Frank Clark cut, and even more with a Mahomes re-structure
2023 Draft picks: 12: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd (Poles), 4th, 4th (Hill), 5th, 6th, 6th (Hill), 6th (Ingram), 7th, 7th (Reed)
Key FA decisions to make:
LT Orlando Brown, Jr.: will he bring his price down?, will they franchise him again? might they actually tag-and-trade?
FS Juan Thornhill: a talented, sub-Pro Bowl player; obvious re-sign
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster: seems like an obvious re-sign, price shouldn't be too bad
WR Mecole Hardman: he either signs a one-year prove-it or he walks
DT Khalen Saunders: he either signs a one-year prove-it or he walks
RB Jerick McKinnon: a must re-sign and should be cheap
They make a splash somewhere at DL in free agency. I think the Chiefs make the deals with Thornhill and JuJu. The Chiefs likely burn a 1st round pick (and goodies for a trade-up) to help fix the tackle situation if they need a LT, or they spend that 1st on the best DL they can get their mitts on if Brown comes to his senses and burns a 2nd day pick on RT.
They will draft a WR high, they may sniff out a top-end talent at RB somewhere for a steal, and then they just add depth in the trenches.
This team may win a Super Bowl this year. They shed Tyreek Hill, the best WR in the NFL, and still got better on offense. And they're going to have ungodly cap space, a dozen picks to stock this roster.
It's going to be absolutely disgusting how good this team is going to be next year, and for the foreseeable future. The Chiefs are in transition this year and still may win it all. If the Chiefs win the Super Bowl this year, we may legit be talking threepeat.
They're going to be that good.
Since then.... it's gotten better!?
- we traded the Poles 3rd and one of the 6ths for Toney
- Rashad Fenton has been traded for a 7th (that I'm guessing we don't get), so who cares
- my prediction that we have 6th-round and 7th-round compensatory picks was actually shy an additional 6th-rounder
- the WR corps is now Toney, Valdez-Scantling, Moore, Watson (easy re-sign), Ross
- Hardman may be an easy re-sign now in light of his injured season
So here's the case re-made and updated:
Again, look at this roster for 2023. Because it's
even more ****ing madness.
QB: Mahomes, Buechele (RFA)
RB: Pacheco, McKinnon (easy re-sign), Edwards-Helaire
FB: Burton (easy re-sign)
WR: Valdez-Scantling, Moore, Watson (easy re-sign), Ross
TE: Kelce, Gray, Fortson (RFA)
LT: ???, Wanogho (RFA)
LG: Thuney, Wylie (easy re-sign)
C: Humphrey
RG: Smith, Wylie (easy re-sign)
RT: Niang, Wanogho (RFA)
DE: Danna, Kaindoh
DT: Jones, Wharton (RFA)
DT: ???
DE: Karlaftis,
WLB: Gay
MLB: Bolton, Chenal
SLB: Chenal, Cochrane (RFA)
CB: Sneed, McDuffie, Watson, Williams, Johnson
S: Reid, Cook, Bush (easy re-sign)
K: Butker
P: Townsend (RFA)
LS: Winchester
2023 Cap space: $45m+ with a Frank Clark cut and a Jones extension, and even more with a Mahomes re-structure
2023 Draft picks: 11: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th (Hill), 5th, 6th 6th (Pringle), 6th (Reed) 7th, 7th (Hughes)
Key FA decisions to make:
LT Orlando Brown, Jr.: will he bring his price down?, will they franchise him again? might they actually tag-and-trade?
FS Juan Thornhill: a talented, sub-Pro Bowl starter
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster: seems like an obvious re-sign, price shouldn't be too bad
WR Mecole Hardman: he either signs a one-year prove-it or he walks
DT Khalen Saunders: he either signs a one-year prove-it or he walks
RB Jerick McKinnon: a must re-sign and should be cheap
They make a call on Orlando Brown (he'll be in KC in 2023 no matter what), and they sow up Sneed. I think the Chiefs sow up JuJu as well, and extending Jones is necessary. They'll bring back McKinnon, no question. They'll shop Clyde Edwards-Helaire but they may just keep him for the final year. Maybe they bring back Wylie for OL depth across the board.
They body up with B-quality depth at DT. Maybe bring back Dunlap at DE. The Chiefs burn their 1st trying to fix their tackle situation. They'll try to add a passrusher with promise, and draft speedier offensive skill positions. Add tons of depth in the trenches.
All of this, is still true:
This team may win a Super Bowl this year. They shed Tyreek Hill, the best WR in the NFL, and still got better on offense. And they're going to have ungodly cap space, a dozen picks to stock this roster.
It's going to be absolutely disgusting how good this team is going to be next year, and for the foreseeable future.
The Chiefs are in transition this year and still may win it all. If the Chiefs win the Super Bowl this year, we may legit be talking threepeat.
They're going to be that good.
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Coming back to this, I think the Chiefs are incredibly well-positioned to use this draft to extend the championship window even more.
I think a tag-and-trade on Orlando Brown opens up a lot of opportunities for the team. Not sure what the price is, but the Bears strike me as an obvious and easy trade target. They need OL upgrades, they have cap to burn, and Brown would be a better fit with a Josh Fields than in a pure passing offense like KC's. Even #64 would be a pretty good value back for KC.
Spend the money you're not spending on Brown to sign Jawaan Taylor away from Jacksonville. Shoot, if you want insurance you could spend the remaining AAV savings from Brown to Taylor on someone like Andre Dillard or Kelvin Beachem. And you'd still have cap to be aggressive in pursuing a DT or re-signing Juju Smith-Schuster if you want.
So, then you'd be armed with #31, #63, #64, and #95 in the top 100. Maybe make a small move up from 31 or 63 to get your guy in those spots. But shoot. KC would be positioned to do something like:
#31: Long-term T answer (Anton Harrison or Matthew Bergeron)
#63: trade up to the early 50s (Seahawks?) and grab a WR (Rashee Rice?) or a DE
#64: BPA at DT (Mazi Smith, Keanu Benton) or DB
#95: BPA
It's an exciting path to think about.
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