3 Offseason Moves That Could Backfire on Chiefs

2. Signing TE Irv Smith Jr.

After releasing Marquez Valdes-Scantling and letting Mecole Hardman walk, Chiefs fans were hoping to see Patrick Mahomes surrounded by more efficient pass-catchers. The team wound up giving Mahomes two new weapons with one being former 1,000-yard receiver Marquise Brown.

The other? Veteran tight end Irv Smith Jr.

While he's a former second-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings, it's hard to get excited about Smith from a pass-catching perspective. The former Alabama product has yet to hit the 400-yard mark throughout his four-year career and is coming off an abysmal 2023 campaign that saw him record career-lows in catches (18), receiving yards (115), and TDs (1) across 12 games with the Cincinnati Bengals.

That's without mentioning how he also recorded the most drops (3) and passer rating when targeted (75.0) in his career.

Smith is currently projected to be the TE3 behind Travis Kelce and Noah Gray, so he might not see a ton of playing time. At the same time, though Kelce isn't getting younger and did miss two games last season, meaning there's a chance that Smith could be thrust into a bigger role that he can't handle should injuries arise.

Smith is only signed through 2024, so I'm hoping we don't see more of him than we need to over the next year. If he couldn't produce with Joe Burrow throwing him the ball, I won't hold my breath for a career resurgence in Kansas City.