Chiefs projected to land edge rusher Marcus Davenport in free agency
The Kansas City Chiefs will be in need of a new edge rusher soon and are projected to land one via free agency that could help fix some issues
The Kansas City Chiefs could very well lose most of their edge rushers, that play that is, this offseason due to either money issues or just being ready to move on. Frank Clark, who is three playoff sacks away from the all-time record, could very well be cut to save $21 million, per spotrac.com.
Carlos Dunlap played on a one-year deal and is getting up there in age. Sure, he played pretty well, but I don't know if he wants a short-term deal again or not, and the Chiefs wouldn't want to lock down a long-term deal on him because of his age.
So that really just leaves George Karlaftis and whoever the Chiefs would possibly draft at the position. But, Pro Football Focus predicts the Chiefs will make a push at one free agent pass rusher at the edge position in Marcus Davenport, who has played for the Saints the last five seasons.
"Frank Clark could end up being a cap casualty for the Chiefs, and if they release him, it would weaken their edge rushing room significantly. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has tended to sign former first-rounders that didn’t pan out to short and cheap contracts — similar to what we’re projecting for Davenport. He would give the Chiefs some juice in the pass-rushing department while complementing George Karlaftis. Davenport has recorded at least 34 pressures in four straight years and has graded above 70.0 in every year of his career."
Davenport has had a rollercoaster of a career so far in New Orleans, where he has had one amazing season, two pretty decent seasons, and two bad seasons. But, he is two years removed from having nearly 10 sacks in a season.
In Steve Spagnuolo's system, he could be a juggernaut on the outside next to Chris Jones. He has the size that opponents would lose sleep over with the two of them lined up next to each other. With Davenport being 6'6" at the edge position and Jones at 6'7", man, that would be amazing to watch to say the least.
If Davenport could string together consecutive seasons where he has great play he would be worth a long-term contract from the Chiefs.
PFF seems to think Kansas City will go after him, and I'd be fine with that signing in the 2023 free agency.
You can read the rest of the PFF article here.
