How Kansas City Chiefs' signing of Hollywood Brown impacts plans for 2024 NFL draft
The Kansas City Chiefs found their 2024 NFL free agency fit at the wide receiver position, signing WR Marquise "Hollywood" Brown on a one-year deal worth up to $11 million with incentives. The wide receiver position was universally viewed as a need for Kansas City this offseason. It comes after a 2023 NFL season that resulted […]
The Kansas City Chiefs found their 2024 NFL free agency fit at the wide receiver position, signing WR Marquise "Hollywood" Brown on a one-year deal worth up to $11 million with incentives.
The wide receiver position was universally viewed as a need for Kansas City this offseason. It comes after a 2023 NFL season that resulted in a Super Bowl win, but also many disappointing and frustrating moments for that group. The Chiefs had to get better there and the Hollywood Brown signing certainly helped them achieve that goal on paper.
How exactly does this move change their pursuits of a wide receiver in the 2024 NFL draft?
Understanding Chiefs' process in free agency and the 2024 NFL draft
Let's take a trip back to the 2019 NFL offseason to better understand the Chiefs' philosophy behind free agency and the draft. Chiefs GM Brett Veach spoke with reporters ahead of the 2019 NFL draft and eloquently explained how he views free agency as a tool to safeguard yourself from drafting for need.
“I think that the things you do in free agency kind of protect yourself in the draft,” Veach explained. “So you don’t have to take a player that you feel is a second- or third-round value in the first round. Maybe some moves are big, like the Honey Badger, and some smaller moves.
“But I think what you do is you protect yourself. And that is really one of the key elements of free agency. You go in there and they don’t all have to be big-name splashes, but you can get guys like a Bashaud Breeland or a Damien Wilson to protect yourselves from over-drafting players.”
The Hollywood Brown signing and the rest of the moves Kansas City has made and will inevitably make in free agency allow the Chiefs to feel comfortable taking the best available player at pick No. 32. That pick very well could be a wide receiver given the depth of the position in this class. It could also be an offensive tackle, cornerback, edge rusher, or so on. With Brown in the fold, the Chiefs won't feel compelled to take the No. 7 wide receiver on their board if their No. 1 cornerback is still available.
Could Hollywood Brown change the type of wide receiver they're looking for in the draft?
Hollywood Brown is a fairly versatile wide receiver with the ability to play X, Z, and Zebra (slot) in the Chiefs' offense. He can win at all three levels of the field, but Kansas City is expected to use him in a field-stretching role, not too dissimilar from how they used Tyreek Hill, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and others in the past. This might take you out of the market for a Xavier Worthy-type receiver, who the Chiefs have often been connected to.
What type of receiver do the Chiefs currently lack with Brown now in the fold? They're likely going to be looking for that X-receiver prototype in the 2024 NFL draft now. A big-bodied receiver who can win those physical one-on-one matchups on the backside of the patented 3×1 formations in Kansas City.
In the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, you're looking at Brian Thomas Jr., AD Mitchell, Xavier Legette, and Keon Coleman, should one of those players drop to you. Later on in Day 2, it could be someone like Johnny Wilson, Ja'Lynn Polk, or Cornelius Johnson.
Chiefs WR Hollywood Brown confirms he’ll switch to his Oklahoma jersey number in Kansas City
Kansas City Chiefs WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is going with a throwback jersey on his new team.
