Best remaining offensive free agents who can make the KC Chiefs better in 2024
The Kansas City Chiefs weren't particularly active when it came to signing outside free agents during the first wave of 2024 NFL free agency. Irv Smith Jr. and Hollywood Brown were their two outside additions while all the other team resources were committed to retaining their own players. The Chiefs are sitting on about $7.6 […]
The Kansas City Chiefs weren't particularly active when it came to signing outside free agents during the first wave of 2024 NFL free agency.
Irv Smith Jr. and Hollywood Brown were their two outside additions while all the other team resources were committed to retaining their own players. The Chiefs are sitting on about $7.6 million in cap space after all of their latest deals, so they don't particularly have the funds for any blockbuster deals. They'll need a small portion of that to sign their draft class and they'll need to preserve some funds for in-season transactions. That said, they can fit a smaller deal with their current funds. They can also do a few things at this juncture to clear some more salary cap space if necessary.
There are still several players available who could help make this a better team in 2024 Here is a look at four players who can do that on the offensive side of the ball:
WR Tyler Boyd
This move might be a little redundant when players like Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore are on the roster, but I don't think anyone in Kansas City would be complaining if someone pushed either off the roster. Boyd is a nuanced route-runner, who does his best work out of the slot where he has big YAC ability.
Boyd posted consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2018 and 2019 with the Cincinnati Bengals before seeing his role diminish upon the additions of Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase. There's also the part where Boyd leaving Cincinnati in free agency makes an AFC rival worse, and he's sure to be extra motivated playing in those key games between these two teams.
OG Greg Van Roten
With the departure of Nick Allegretti, the Chiefs require quality veteran depth on the offensive interior and Van Roten fills that role perfectly. If this 34-year-old veteran is willing to take an opportunity as a backup, he could wind up with a Super Bowl ring. Van Roten was quietly one of the best interior offensive linemen in football with the Las Vegas Raiders a season ago. Among guards with at least 1,000 snaps, he tied for the third-fewest pressures allowed with 21, albeit five were sacks. He's no slouch in the run game either, which has quietly become a big part of the offense in Kansas City.
RB Matt Breida
At 29 years old, Breida feels like he could be a good complement to Isiah Pacheco. Among running backs with at least 50 snaps in pass protection in 2023, Breida ranked 20th in the league allowing pressure on just 16% of his snaps. In college, he was nicknamed "Breida the Cheetah" because he was a speedster for Georgia Southern. He ran a 4.37 40-yard dash ahead of the 2017 NFL draft. He's clocked a top speed of 22.3 miles per hour on an 83-yard touchdown back in 2019 with the 49ers.
If you can't bring back Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Jerick McKinnon, this might be the best route to go.
WR Isaiah Hodgins
At 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, Hodgins could be the perfect option if the Chiefs are looking for a low-budget "X" receiver type. The 25-year-old joined the Giants midway through 2022 and impacted a bad WR group. He had 33 receptions for 351 yards and four touchdowns in just eight games played and five starts. He didn't get a chance to show much this year because the Giants were an unmitigated disaster all season, but he followed up his success in 2022 with 21 receptions for 230 yards and three touchdowns in 2023.
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