The Super Bowl is over and that means the NFL off-season is in full swing. The Chiefs have the 28th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and a good chunk of their defense is set to hit the free agency. Some notable players from their defense that could hit free agency are Eric Berry, Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson, Sean Smith, and Jaye Howard. The Chiefs are expected to sign Eric Berry to a long-term deal so it is unlikely that he will hit free agency. However, the other players are not as clear.
Kansas City Chiefs 2016 Off-Season: Top 3 Needs
Cornerback
It’s likely the Chiefs will not be able to afford to keep Sean Smith and if that is the case corner jumps to a huge priority this off-season. The Chiefs have Phillip Gaines who tore his ACL in his left knee on the Monday night loss against Green Bay in the beginning of the season. Gaines will be in his third season in 2016. The Chiefs have Defensive Rookie of the Year in Marcus Peters but will need another corner to line up on the other side of the defense. If they let Sean Smith go it is likely because they have faith in Gaines or second year Steven Nelson who they drafted in the third round out of Oregon State in 2015. Nelson didn’t see a lot of action in his rookie year with Kansas City only seeing a total of 53 defensive snaps but after being inactive the first four games, he was thrown into every game the rest of the season and postseason for at least a couple of plays.
The Chiefs are looking at around $30 million or so when it comes to cap space so it is unlikely that they search for this position in the free agency. It is likely that they will address cornerback in the draft especially with it being a position that is usually played by younger players in the NFL. A good corner is hard to find for cheap in the free agency market so unless the Chiefs find a way to lock down Smith it is expected that they will go after the position in the draft.
Linebacker
It’s expected that the Chiefs will not be able to keep Derrick Johnson and/or Tamba Hali. They have Dee Ford to be the replacement for Hali if they let him walk. Hali has expressed interest in staying in Kansas City but unless he wants to play for the league minimum it is probably not happening. The Chiefs drafted inside linebacker Ramik Wilson out of Georgia and outside linebacker D.J. Alexander out of Oregon State in 2015 but it will be a lot of work to replace the Chiefs leading tackler in Derrick Johnson and one of the Chiefs premier pass rushers in Hali.
It’s likely that the Chiefs will also look for these positions in the draft due to not a lot of cap space. Hali and Johnson are likely going to different teams since they are getting older as well as too expensive for the Chiefs to retain. So it’s likely the Chiefs will address this need as well in the draft to try and give their young guys some competition that is more affordable.
Offensive Line
The Chiefs haven’t exactly had a great offensive line the last couple of years but it’s about to take a hit as well if they don’t work at bringing guard Jeff Allen or left tackle Donald Stephenson back. The Chiefs worked a lot last year with Eric Fisher at right tackle, Allen at right guard, Morse at center, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif at left guard and Jah Reid at left tackle. It is expected that the Chiefs could let Allen walk, put in Zach Fulton at center who does do a pretty good job and put Morse at left guard which is a better position for Morse due to his size. The Chiefs also have Ben Grubbs who missed half the season with a neck injury and was the starting left guard. However, it always helps to add depth to the offensive line and this wasn’t exactly the best offensive line in the NFL by any means.
The Chiefs will probably look at the free agency market for linemen or wait until the later rounds to draft a couple. It is possible the Chiefs look at bringing back Geoff Schwartz as well who was just recently cut by the Giants. Schwartz played for the Chiefs in the 2013 season. He was the highest graded Chiefs lineman when he played for Kansas City.
