The Chiefs Begin the Offseason. What Can We Look Forward To?

The Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals played in the AFC Championship game as the Bengals would win in overtime 27-24. The game had massive swings for both sides, with the Chiefs holding a 21-3 point lead at one point with a 92% winning probability. The second half was a completely different story for the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, as the lead would diminish along with the hopes of going to a third straight Super Bowl. Players will begin cleaning out their lockers, and coaches will hold the end of the year meetings. Preparation for the draft will be in full swing. What can we expect the offseason to look like for the Chiefs?

The Kansas City Chiefs Will Assess the Overall Roster Structure

Not every player will return to the Chiefs’ locker room for the following 2022-23 season. Players who have expiring contracts become free agents and can sign with other teams if it is a fit. Some players will be cut or released from their contracts and will also have the opportunity to catch on with another team.

The Chiefs are projected to have roughly $29,000,000 in cap space, according to spotrac.com. They will be heading into the following season with approximately $2,300,000 in dead cap. The front office has to make some big decisions on some significant players. Some notable players hitting the unrestricted free agent market are free safety Tyrann Mathieu, defensive tackle Jarran Reed, defensive end Melvin Ingram, cornerback Charvarius Ward, left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., and others.

The Chiefs will have the opportunity to franchise tag a player, and Orlando Brown Jr. could be a candidate for that tag. If KC chooses that option Brown would be a one-year, $16,500,000 deal. According to spotrac.com,

"“Brown grades out about the same as a left tackle that he did as a right tackle, though Patrick Mahomes is currently on pace to be handed the most sacks in his career. The reality here is that KC doled out a 1st, 3rd, & 4th round pick to bring Brown in, so a multi-year extension is happening, and our projections put that at 5 years, $90M currently.”"

The potential trade/cut candidates have been rumored for a while now. The first up is defensive end, Frank Clark. Clark came to the Chiefs in a massive trade from the Seattle Seahawks and then signed a 5 year, $104,000,000 deal. He has not lived up to the monster contract, and with a post-June 1st release, the Chiefs could save approximately $20,000,000. The next candidate is linebacker Anthony Hitchens. Hitchens is entering the last year of his contract and will be 29 years old. Kansas City can free up $8,500,000 by moving on.

The Kansas City Chiefs Look To Capitalize on the Draft

As it stands right now, the Chiefs have ten total draft picks heading into the 2022-23 season. General manager Brett Veach has hit in the draft after selecting linebacker Nick Bolton, center Creed Humphrey, and guard Trey Smith. We will have plenty of offseason to conduct mock drafts and see what moves KC makes. For now, positions of glaring need are wide receiver, cornerback, and safety. Kansas City has some options at right tackle and defensive end, but both of those positions could easily be glaring needs.

The Kansas City Chiefs Could Shake Up the Coaching Staff

The Chiefs have some coaches in line for promotions, and others may be heading out the door due to lack of performance. Kansas City has already had two members of the organization take new positions. The first is Ryan Poles, who is now the new general manager of the Chicago Bears. The other was linebacker’s coach Matt House. House accepted the defensive coordinator position at LSU under new head coach Brian Kelly.

The football world anticipates offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to take a head coaching position, but those are dwindling after teams have hired coaches in preparation for the next season. The Vikings, Jaguars, Saints, Dolphins, and Texans are still in need of a head coach and Bieniemy could be in line for one of those.

What Is Next for the Kansas City Chiefs?

Usually, this is the part where I inform you of the next game, but the Chiefs have been eliminated from the playoffs. Many of the tasks above will be executed once the Super Bowl is complete. We have seen the opponents for the Chiefs in the 2022-23 season and are also aware of the home and away.  We will look forward to the official release of the schedule and see how many prime time games Kansas City receives and where the games are positioned on the schedule.  I am sure there is a dry erase board loaded with task and goals that need to be accomplished.  The Chiefs will learn and move on and that is exactly what will happen.