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Kansas City Chiefs: Four best tight end options in free agency

By Leigh Oleszczak

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 8: Ricky Seals-Jones #83 of the Cleveland Browns runs with the ball during the fourth quarter of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 8, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland defeated Cincinnati 27-19. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 8: Ricky Seals-Jones #83 of the Cleveland Browns runs with the ball during the fourth quarter of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 8, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland defeated Cincinnati 27-19. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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It’s no secret that the Kansas City Chiefs have the best tight end in the NFL, but they need to find a backup behind Travis Kelce should something happen to him during the season.

Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of fantastic options at the tight end position for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency and that’s why I recommended the team look for a TE2 in the 2020 NFL Draft.

In case they want to sign a free agent on a one-year deal, however, here are the best available options after one week of free agency. These are in no particular order.

JORDAN REED

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Yes, Jordan Reed is still in the league, but hasn’t been healthy since the 2015 season where he totaled 952 yards and 11 touchdowns. He did put up 558 yards of offense this past season despite Washington having a quarterback carousel, which is noteworthy for sure.

The problem with Reed isn’t his potential, he has a lot of that. Instead, it’s his inability to stay healthy. He hasn’t ever started more than nine games in a season, but he did play in 13 total in the 2019 season, showing that he’s worth taking a flier on.

At age 29, Reed isn’t going to be what he once was, but the Chiefs wouldn’t be bringing him in to be a starter, but rather a backup to Travis Kelce. Signing Reed wouldn’t be a bad move by Kansas City and is something they should explore.

DELANIE WALKER

Similar to Reed, Delanie Walker has struggled to stay healthy the past two seasons appearing in just eight games during that time. When healthy, Walker is in the upper tier of tight ends, but that’s been the problem recently.

Walker is also turning 36 in August, so he’s not exactly a spring chicken. Signing him as backup wouldn’t be a crazy idea though. He played his college football at Central Missouri in Warrensburg just an hour away from Kansas City, so being a Chief in the final year of his career might interest Walker.

This seems unlikely due to Walker’s injury history the past two years, but let this UCM alum dream that the only successful Mule in the NFL could play for the Kansas City Chiefs at some point in time.

GEOFF SWAIM

You know it’s a weak tight end market when the third best option in free agency is Geoff Swaim, who spent the first four years of his career in Dallas before spending 2019 with the Jaguars and doing very little. Swaim played in just six games and totaled 65 yards in Jacksonville.

At 26, Swaim is the youngest of the bunch so far, but even if he’s signed to be the TE2 in Kansas City, he’s not going to be the future at the position. The Chiefs would still need to draft a tight end.

RICKY SEALS-JONES

Out of all of the options on the free agent market, Ricky Seals-Jones could be the best backup option for the Chiefs moving forward. The former undrafted tight end out of Texas A&M spent his first two seasons in Arizona and spent this past year with the Browns.

Seals-Jones scored four touchdowns in Cleveland this past season ,but with them bringing in Austin Hooper and already having David Njoku on their roster, there isn’t a need to re-sign Seals-Jones in Cleveland. The Chiefs could use a guy like him as a backup and he’s young, having just turned 25 earlier this month.

The former Aggie hasn’t put up big numbers during his three seasons in the NFL, but the Chiefs wouldn’t need him to. He’d be the backup to Kelce and his numbers would likely increase with a better quarterback throwing the pigskin to him.

Next. Best Tight Ends in Chiefs History. dark

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The Kansas City Chiefs need to fill the TE2 spot behind Kelce and these are the four best options on the open market right now. Hopefully they also decide to spend one of their five draft picks on a tight end because Kelce can’t play forever and even if he could – If he were to go down, the Chiefs would be in a heap of trouble at that position.

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