Kansas City Chiefs: Five free agents who could fill roster holes
By Cullen Jekel
Roster Hole: No. 2 Center/Interior Offensive Line Depth
Available Free Agent: John Sullivan
In last month’s draft, the Kansas City Chiefs made a very shrewd move with their seventh-round pick by taking Nick Allegretti out of Illinois. Allegretti played both at guard and center during his time at Illinois, and was praised as an intelligent team leader. His experience at multiple positions along the interior offensive line should allow him to move around from left guard to center to right guard.
Pursuant to Piper’s projected 53-man roster, the Chiefs other back-up interior offensive linemen would be Kahlil McKenzie, a 2018 seventh-round pick who didn’t play at all last year, and Cameron Erving, who started 13 games last season in place of the injured Laurent-Duvernay Tardiff.
That right there goes to my point: ample depth along the offensive line is critical. By bringing in center John Sullivan, the 10-year veteran most recently of the Los Angeles Rams, the Chiefs would not only add an experienced center to challenge presumed starter Austin Reiter, but also would allow Allegretti learn the ins-and-outs of three different positions in professional football.
This is interesting: The #Rams did not exercise veteran center John Sullivan’s 2019 option, sources say. He's 33 but hasn’t missed a start the past two seasons. One of NFL’s smartest guys up front, now about to hit the market.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 5, 2019
For his career, Sullivan has played in 153 games between the Rams, Redskins and Vikings, starting 125 of them. Last season, for the NFC-winning Rams, he played in and started every single game.
Thirty-four years old when the season starts, Sullivan is definitely aging with some miles on his wheels, but there would be no harm in bringing in a veteran winner to stabilize a group that occupies the most dangerous area on the grid iron.