Kansas City Chiefs: Every player hitting free agency in 2021

Kansas City Chiefs Free Agents: RFA (Restricted Free Agent)

The Chiefs have five RFA and what this means is that these players are free to talk to and sign with other teams. If they do, however, the Chiefs have a right to match whatever deal they’re offered by their new team. The players that fall into this category are:

• Ben Niemann, LB – Re-signed with Chiefs
• Charvarius Ward, CB – Re-signed with Chiefs
• Darrel Williams, RB – Re-signed with Chiefs 
• Andrew Wylie, OL – Re-signed with Chiefs
• Deon Yelder, TE – Not tendered

There are a few names in this bunch that the Chiefs should try to hold onto if they can. Ward, Williams, and Wylie are the ones that KC could still certainly use moving forward, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they couldn’t keep them.

Niemann hopefully won’t be back, as he’s proven he isn’t capable of playing the linebacker position and Yelder simply didn’t do much of anything. As I mentioned earlier with Nick Keizer, the Chiefs need to make the backup tight end position a point of emphasis this offseason, and if they do that, keeping Yelder wouldn’t make a ton of sense.

Ward didn’t play as well in 2020 as he did in 2019 but he’s still depth at a very thin position. The Chiefs can’t afford to part ways with an experienced cornerback if they have a chance to keep him around. Williams might have been an RB3 last year, but he ended up being the main running back through the early portion of the playoffs. Wylie struggled in the Super Bowl, but he’s always been a dependable swing option along the line.