Kansas City Chiefs should make all-in push on offensive line
The Kansas City Chiefs signed Joe Thuney. Now they should go for broke with two more moves in free agency.
Getting to the Super Bowl is fun. Watching your offense fail to score a touchdown isn’t.
The high-powered Kansas City Chiefs found that out last month, when Patrick Mahomes was blown out for the first time in his NFL career. As a result, they lost 31-9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The main culprit was a makeshift offensive line that has already been shuffled since that fateful night.
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Out are tackles Mitch Schwartz and Eric Fisher, both cap casualties as they recover from back and Achilles surgeries, respectively. Then there’s veteran center Austin Reiter, who is being allowed to test NFL free agency. On Monday, the first day of legal tampering (the best oxymoron in sports) the Chiefs didn’t waste time upgrading the unit. They landed All-Pro guard Joe Thuney on a five-year, $80 million agreement. The deal should be made official on Wednesday when the new league year begins.
Now, they’re reportedly locked in a struggle with the San Francisco 49ers over premier left tackle Trent Williams. Williams, 33, is the best free agent regardless of position in this class. He’s older but has reached the Pro Bowl eight times, including in 2020. Bringing in Williams to play alongside Thuney would be a wonderful coup for general manager Brett Veach. He has long been fond of landing high-profile stars this time of year.
Additionally, the Las Vegas Raiders shocked the football world on Tuesday when they released standout Center Rodney Hudson after six years of terrific play. Hudson, 31, has only missed four games since becoming a starter in 2013. Of course, that year was Andy Reid’s first as a head coach in Kansas City, where Hudson played for four years before signing with the Raiders following the 2014 campaign.
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Hudson will have ample suitors, but Kansas City has the cap space to be in on both Hudson and Williams. After watching the Super Bowl and considering future cap sheets, the Chiefs should aggressively do what is needed to land both if at all possible.
No team is perfect, and even if the Chiefs somehow brought on Williams, Thuney and Hudson in a single offseason, there would always be small problems to fix along the roster.
But if Kansas City could land the trifecta, the roster would be as close to perfect as the NFL allows.
