Chiefs 2025 Free Agency Outlook: Will Kansas City re-sign either of Brett Veach's two midseason trade acquisitions?
The Kansas City Chiefs currently have 20 pending free agents for the 2025 NFL offseason.Two of those pending free agents are WR DeAndre Hopkins and LB/DE Joshua Uche, both of whom were acquired by Chiefs GM Brett Veach in midseason trades. Typically, the Chiefs make trades with a long-term future in mind, but was that the case with […]
The Kansas City Chiefs currently have 20 pending free agents for the 2025 NFL offseason.
Two of those pending free agents are WR DeAndre Hopkins and LB/DE Joshua Uche, both of whom were acquired by Chiefs GM Brett Veach in midseason trades. Typically, the Chiefs make trades with a long-term future in mind, but was that the case with Hopkins and Uche, or were they means to an end in the three-peat pursuit?
How things went as the 2024 NFL season and postseason progressed tends to point toward the latter. . .
The curious case of WR DeAndre Hopkins
The Chiefs don't need to look back on the Hopkins trade with any regret, but it certainly wasn't the transformative move that defined their season. Hopkins finished the 2024 NFL regular season with 41 receptions for 437 yards and four touchdowns. It's a solid stat line for a midseason acquisition that joined the team ahead of Week 8. His snaps seemed, perhaps strangely, to be going in the wrong direction after Week 13. Some speculated that it had to do with the trade conditions with Tennessee, but I'm not so certain. From Week 14 onward into the postseason, Hopkins only exceeded 50% of the offensive snaps for Kansas City once. During the postseason, his highest offensive snap total was just 38% (Super Bowl LIX).
Ultimately, I think Hopkins was a good stopgap for the Chiefs to help get them over the hump of injuries to their projected WR1 (Rashee Rice) and WR2 (Hollywood Brown), along with growing pains for rookie WR Xavier Worthy. Beyond that, I'm unsure if Hopkins fits what the Chiefs regularly seek out of that particular position. Hopkins seemed progressively phased out of the offense as a player like Brown returned from injury and ate away at wide receiver snaps. If it came down to a choice between Hopkins or Brown, we probably already have the answer of who the team would choose. The nice news is that if Hopkins goes out and signs a qualifying free agent deal with another team, the Chiefs would still be eligible for a compensatory pick in 2026.
The even more bizarre case of LB/DE Joshua Uche
Uche is undoubtedly one of the more disappointing midseason acquisitions during Brett Veach's tenure as general manager. He was billed as a potential addition to what had been a lackluster pass rush. Charles Omenihu's return to action from his AFC title game knee injury thwarted any true chance of contributions that Uche had. He only once played more than 11 snaps in a single game this season, which was an eight-tackle, 50-snap performance in Week 18's loss to the Denver Broncos.
Even given Omenihu's return to action, it's hard not to wonder if the team had a different vision for his role or if he simply wasn't where they needed to be with his mastery of the scheme and defense. While I think he'd probably be better suited to contribute in 2025 after an entire offseason of work, it's tough to envision a route where it makes sense to re-sign him after what was seen this season.