The Kansas City Chiefs had high expectations for the wide receiver position during the 2025 NFL season after injuries to Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice stifled success in 2024.

Unfortunately, things very much mimicked that season with injuries and absences hurting the team early in the year. Xavier Worthy was injured in a collision with a teammate in Week 1, while Rice was suspended for the first six games of the year.

While there are temptations to run it back for a third time for reasons that include Patrick Mahomes’ knee injury, the team will likely face several free agent departures at the wide receiver position in March. The health of the position group in 2026 and beyond is in a dangerous spot, as the team could use an infusion of talent via free agency or the draft, with only two players at the position under contract for two or more seasons.

Marquise Brown headlines Chiefs’ pending free agents at the wide receiver position

Hollywood Brown, Tyquan Thornton, and JuJu Smith-Schuster are the three receivers for the club that fall under the unrestricted free agent category. Nikko Remigio is the lone receiver who is an exclusive rights free agent.

Brown led that group of receivers in 2025 with 49 receptions on 74 targets for 587 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, with six games started. Thornton was a close second with just 19 receptions for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns, leading the NFL in yards per reception at 23.1 after just four games started. Brown and Thornton both finished the year tied with the third-most dropped passes on the season with three apiece.

Despite starting 12 games, Smith-Schuster had 33 receptions for just 345 yards and only one touchdown. He led Brown and Thornton in yards after the catch with 191. Smith-Schuster might be the likeliest of this group to return to Kansas City in 2026 because of his cost and his ability to set the floor as a veteran leader in the receiver room.

Thornton was on a one-year, $1.1M deal in 2025 but will likely seek a better deal in 2026. He’s expressed interest in returning to Kansas City, but his individual goals might not align. Brown had virtually the same deal in back-to-back years with the Chiefs, earning about $7.6M average per year. Smith-Schuster played on a one-year deal worth $1.4M in 2025.

Which options do the Chiefs have on the 90-man offseason roster to replace free agents?

The Chiefs currently have six players at the wide receiver position under contract for the 2026 NFL season.

• WR Xavier Worthy
• WR Rashee Rice
• WR Jalen Royals
• WR Jason Brownlee
• WR Jimmy Holiday
• WR Andrew Armstrong

What’s clear to me is that outside of Worthy and Rice, the Chiefs don’t have many dependable options at wide receiver. Even then, the off-field issues with Rice and Worthy’s injury struggles give pause.

Royals is the biggest wild-card in my eyes. The fourth-round draft pick didn’t play much in 2025, with a near-redshirt season due to knee tendinitis. He started two games for Kansas City and played in seven, recording two receptions on three targets for four yards. The Chiefs will have a better idea of his role for 2026, but it’s hard to expect much after his rookie campaign.

Brownlee and Armstrong are cut from the same cloth in the sense that they’re the big X receiver types that Kansas City has seldom used in recent seasons. Holiday might actually be a surprise to make the 53-man roster as a special teams contributor in 2026.

Last offseason, the Chiefs went into training camp with a dozen receivers. If they aim to hit those numbers again, that means they’ll need to add six receivers in free agency, the 2026 NFL Draft, and undrafted free agency.

Packers WR Romeo Doubs could make sense as an outside addition if the Chiefs invest

The wide receiver position is not exactly flush with talent in free agency this year, but Doubs is one of the more intriguing options out there. The 25-year-old is coming off his most productive season yet, but it still feels like there’s room to grow. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, he’d give the Chiefs a bigger body at the receiver position who can win one-on-one on the outside.

Our own Wendell Ferreira wrote about the Chiefs as a potential landing spot for Doubs in January, specifically noting his success on third down as what could entice Kansas City.

“The Chiefs are $62 million over the cap for 2026, dead last in the NFL. So it’s going to be hard to make significant investments. However, teams can easily manipulate the cap for specific reasons, and the Chiefs need more offensive weaponry around Patrick Mahomes. KC was 24th in EPA/play on third down, and Doubs could help them improve in this area.”

The question Brett Veach and Andy Reid would have to ask here is whether they believe Doubs can ascend to the role of a No. 1 wide receiver. The rule of free agency is that teams must overpay to acquire talent, even those with the reputation and luster that Kansas City has. A multi-year deal in the $10-12 million range is expected for Doubs.

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