Kansas City Chiefs had weak offseason in 2018
By John McCarty
A few hits and a slew of misses highlight the first full offseason for Brett Veach and the Kansas City Chiefs. Let’s focus on the mistakes for the sake of this article.
The 2018 offseason started off with a bang when the announcement of Alex Smith being traded to Washington for a third round pick and a player and excitement grew for Kansas City Chiefs fans. That officially meant that Patrick Mahomes became the new starter.
The addition of Kendall Fuller to the roster also gave Chiefs fans a reason to be excited. From that point forward, however, there have been a few misses with few hits. Let’s take a look at a few of the problems.
MARCUS PETERS
Obviously, we don’t know all that led up to the decision to trade Marcus Peters, the ultra talented, but perhaps difficult to handle corner. However, after acquiring just a fourth round pick and a future second, the Chiefs certainly sold low on one of the top defensive players.
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Why did the Chiefs trade Peters? Perhaps the meltdown in New York, that saw Peters throw the flag in the stands after a penalty was called on Steve Nelson and then walking off the field. Perhaps it was the return to the field without socks that would not have allowed Peters to return to the field. What about the confrontation between Peters and special teams coach Dave Toub after the game?
We obviously don’t know the real reason that led the Chiefs to trade him, but it’s become readily evident the Chiefs didn’t get near market value for the player. The return for Khalil Mack was what Chiefs fans probably expected in return for their All-Pro corner, so getting what they got in return was pretty disappointing.
Another issue for the Chiefs is they failed to address the position afterwards. Yes, the Chiefs fully believed David Amerson combined with Steven Nelson and Kendall Fuller were the answer at cornerback.
In a draft deep at corner, especially in round two, the Chiefs failed to address the position at all, opting to ignore defensive back entirely until round four (Armani Watts) and then waiting until round six to address corner in small school product Tremon Smith of Central Arkansas.
Wouldn’t you know it, Amerson was unable to do the job, and the Chiefs, on the fly during the preseason, had to completely redo their defensive backfield. Since the Chiefs started training camp in St. Joe, they have added Orlando Scandrick, brought back Ron Parker, and also added Jordan Lucas, Charvarius Ward, and most recently Josh Shaw.
The Chiefs have ten defensive backs on their roster currently, meaning half the defensive backs on the roster have been added in the past couple months. If only the team had an off-season and draft to address depth.