7 winners and 4 losers from the first week of Chiefs’ free agency

What did we learn from Kansas City’s opening moves?

The narratives about NFL free agency can be as predictable as they are annoying. The teams that spend big money to add easily-recognizable players are winning the offseason. Teams that don’t are falling behind.

After locking up superstar defensive tackle Chris Jones before the madness began on Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs spent the first few days of free agency re-signing their own depth players — and letting everyone on X (formerly known as Twitter) freak out because the league’s best available wide receivers were going elsewhere.

Let’s take stock of where the team now stands.

Winners

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Wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown: Some might think that the one-year, $7 million contract signed by the former Arizona Cardinals wideout wasn’t the deal he deserved. But he’s joining the back-to-back league champions — and could easily play an oversize role in a potential three-peat. Still just 26, Brown should be well-positioned to get a big long-term contract a year from now. He’s in an excellent spot — and it’s a great deal for Kansas City, too.

Tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Rashee Rice: To get back to being an offense that defenses fear on every level, the Chiefs desperately needed a big-play receiver. With Brown now on board, things should open up for Kelce and Rice; they’ll each draw less attention from defenses than they did in 2023. And with the addition of Irv Smith Jr., Kelce should also see his workload decrease a little. Meanwhile, Rice can still be the featured wide receiver — and the one with a long-term future in Kansas City; Brown is neither Rice’s replacement nor a “true No. 1” receiver that could push Rice down a peg.

Defensive lineman Chris Jones: Once the salary cap increased, we probably should have known that Jones was finally going to get the “Aaron Donald money” he’s always wanted. The question was whether the Chiefs would be the team to give it to him — and retain his presence, productivity and personality for the rest of his career. So it’s a big win for everybody. And as we can breathe our collective sigh of relief, let’s acknowledge that it was Clark Hunt who gave the green light to cut the big check. He’s earned that credit.

Running back Isiah Pacheco: Free agency began with lots of movement among running backs. Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, De’Andre Swift and others changed teams. Kansas City could have been in the market for a veteran to pair with Pacheco — perhaps someone like Austin Eckeler — but the week passed without a new veteran back on the team. This left Pacheco as the unquestioned No. 1 — at least for now. In all of this movement, there seemed to be little interest in the Chiefs’ free agent Clyde Edwards-Helaire. If he ends up with little to no market, he could end up returning to Kansas City.

Left tackle Wayna Morris: Since the Chiefs weren’t aggressive about adding a veteran tackle, it could mean the team has faith in Morris as its Day 1 starter. Or it could mean the team intends to target that position in the draft — and just wants us to think Morris is the guy. Until proven otherwise, we’ll assume Morris has a good chance to be the blind-side protector this season.

The run-it-back theme: This week’s moves were almost entirely about keeping the team’s own role players in the house. Kansas City signed defensive tackles Mike Pennel, Tershawn Wharton and Derrick Nnadi, long snapper James Winchester, safety Deon Bush and linebacker Drue Tranquill — and extendend tender offers for all of the team’s exclusive rights free agents: linebackers Jack Cochrane and Cole Christiansen, offensive lineman Mike Caliendo, defensive end Malik Herring and safety Nazeeh Johnson. For now, the team that won back-to-back titles is focused on retaining its own depth.

Losers

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Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed: When Jones got paid, it all but sealed a trade for the team’s free-agent cornerback. While everyone would be happy to have one of the league’s best all-around corners back on the roster, it’s clear that the team prioritized Jones; with so many good young defensive backs on the roster, it will be comfortable absorbing Sneed’s loss. That isn’t all bad news for the cornerback, either; he’ll very likely get a substantial contract with a new team. With conflicting reports all over the place, we’re just waiting for the situation to be resolved. The Chiefs probably value Sneed more than other teams — but probably don’t want to pay him, either. It’s not great for him to be in limbo — and it’s likely more than one party in this situation will be disappointed with the outcome.

Tight end Blake Bell: Kansas City’s very first signing of an outside free agent was tight end Irv Smith, Jr., who is likely to replace Bell in 2024. Smith signed a cheap one-year deal — just as Bell has been doing. Bell has been a valuable blocker and depth piece, but he’s getting up there in years — and in 2023, his production was essentially zero. I’d be surprised if there’s a big demand for his services in free agency.

Wide receivers Mecole Hardman and Kadarius Toney: Mecole was on top of the football world after making the Super Bowl’s longest play — and then the game-winning walk-off touchdown in overtime. But that was followed by a public accusation of both tampering and cheating during his time with the New York Jets. And now… Hardman has apparently had little interest from elsewhere. Meanwhile, Toney’s 2023 season was a total disaster. Marred by drops and mistakes, it ended with him being a healthy scratch in the playoffs. It doesn’t seem likely that either wideout will have a significant role with the team this season.