The Kansas City Chiefs have been active in free agency, making some significant additions on both sides of the ball. Those moves included signing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker and versatile defensive back Alohi Gilman, while bringing back star tight end Travis Kelce for his 14th season with the team.
Certain additions will make life harder for other players on the roster, and Zacch Pickens is that player for Kansas City in 2026. After all, the Chiefs signed Khyiris Tonga to a three-year, $21 million deal that featured $14 million guaranteed.
Tonga's presence will hurt Pickens, as the Chiefs' interior defensive line got some juice.
Khyiris Tonga Signing with the Chiefs Is Bad News for Zacch Pickens
Chris Jones is the engine of the Chiefs' defense on the inside, with Omarr Norman-Lott expected to get a larger role in 2026. While those two are expected to be an effective duo in the interior, Tonga got a nice deal and is slated to step in for this team.
Following Kansas City's signing of Tonga, Jones posted on X, "Tonga is a dawg." That's just one way he showed his approval, and based on the contract they gave him, he'll be a key contributor in that defensive line rotation.
Tonga has been in the NFL for the last five seasons, spending time with the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, and New England Patriots. Yet last season with the Patriots was his best as a pro, logging 24 total tackles, two TFLs, two QB hits, and two pass deflections. Meanwhile, on Pro Football Focus, he finished with a 67.2 overall grade (38th among 134 graded defensive linemen), 74.3 pass-rush grade (18th among 134 graded defensive linemen), and a 54.6 run-defense grade (66th among 134 graded defensive linemen).
While these numbers aren't staggering, they are better than what Pickens has provided. He joined the Chiefs' practice squad last August but was only elevated to the active roster three times. In those outings, he posted five total tackles with zero tackles for loss, sacks, or quarterback hits.
Before joining the Chiefs, he was with the Bears after being a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Despite being a fairly high draft pick, he couldn't find his footing there. Over 26 games (3 starts) with Chicago, Pickens had 39 total tackles, four QB hits, and 1.5 sacks. He quickly fell out of that rotation, and it looks like it will be the same case in Kansas City.
Pickens is on the books for one more season at $1.145 million, but if the Chiefs wanted to move on from this offseason, they would get all that money off the books. Even if they keep him, he won't have a major role in this defensive front. Kansas City has Jones, Norman-Lott, and now Tonga leading the charge there.
And that spells bad news for Pickens' outlook for the 2026 season.