Chiefs Chronicles: NFL Draft & Free Agency- Part 1
The Downside of Free Content, How Much Things Can Change in 55 Days, Mock Draft Mania, My Thoughts on the Chiefs Moves So Far, & All the Videos/GIFs/Links You've Come to Expect From Chiefs Chronicles
The Downside of Free Content
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Well, Chiefs Chronicles is finally back! As the song says: “It’s been a long, long time.” 55 days, to be exact (more on that below). Honestly, the pressure to write is a LOT less intense since I’m mostly giving it away. If I had more than two paid subscribers (thanks, Mom & Dad!), the obligation I’d feel to put out constant Chiefs content (say that phrase 10 times fast) would be much stronger.
Extenuating circumstances have impacted my desire/ability to write, as well. I won’t bore you with all the details (examples include: my Nespresso machine AKA “Coffee McCaffeineface” stopped working, I’ve been dealing with health issues, tax time somehow snuck up on me, excuses, excuses, whining, etc.) but you’ll be happy to know (I hope) that I plan on getting back to a regular writing schedule from here on out.
If you do feel like contributing to my particular brand of Chiefs content (thereby increasing my internally generated feeling of obligation to produce it), any paid subscriptions are not expected but will be gratefully accepted. The proceeds will most likely go to a new Nespresso machine, an occasional pizza, or maybe my house payment.😉
How Much Things Can Change in 55 Days
Here are a couple of things I wrote in the last Chiefs Chronicles:
Then: “I thought two-time Super Bowl Champ Mike Pennel was a stud during the game (a great pickup for the Chiefs!) and I hope the Chiefs reward him with a multi-year contract. He brings some more attitude to the D-line (you can never have too much) and Chris Jones (who I hope is signing his long-term contract right now) seems to like him. Lock him up, KC!”
Now: I was pretty close on this one! Mike Pennel signed a 1-year deal to stay with KC and the Chiefs locked up Chris Jones for the foreseeable future. Score!
Then: “The Rashee Rice pick just keeps looking better and better. He had some key catches during the Super Bowl and was so, so good for the Chiefs during the stretch run and throughout the playoffs. I looked back through my mock drafts from last year and I actually drafted Rashee Rice several times. Maybe I should work for the Chiefs scouting department in some capacity? Now go get Patrick some more guys like that and let’s see how far the Chiefs Dynasty can go!”
Now: This take hasn’t aged as well as the first one. The current street racing accident fiasco that Rashee is in the midst of (too fast and way too furious) is going to take a long time for him to live down and the full ramifications of it (legal/career/life) are uncertain at this point. I’m not going to get into what I think should happen to him from a moral standpoint because I was once a stupid young man and, as such, I made some extremely idiotic decisions. Thankfully, those decisions didn’t badly hurt or kill anyone, but they very well could have. We all make mistakes (some, admittedly, worse than others) and I just hope that he learns from his mistakes and doesn’t repeat them.
As for legal consequences, because he has a clean record/it’s a first offense (as far as I know), and taking into account how the legal system functions, I’m guessing he doesn’t serve any time (@DrewDavenportFF on X has a great breakdown of the whole situation- including Fantasy Football advice). Some combination of probation, community service, and financial restitution feels likely.
What will the NFL do? I’m getting at least a 4-game suspension vibe from the situation, maybe more. If he hadn’t caused a major accident and then left the scene, he might have avoided a suspension altogether. Since that wasn’t the case and he’s a high-profile, Super Bowl Champion Chiefs player, the NFL probably has to “make an example” of him.
I don’t have a clue how the Chiefs will handle this. It might be easier to predict without the Britt Reid situation hanging over the coach and organization. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Maybe planning for my career as a Chiefs scout was a little premature…
Mock Draft Mania
There is something addicting about creating mock drafts. Drafting future Chiefs legends, even hypothetically (mockingly?), feels pretty great. And if, by some miracle, KC’s actual draft lines up with one or more of my fake drafts? Then the dream of becoming a scout for the Chiefs will be back on!
Honestly, though, I’ve done so many mock drafts this year that the only thing I’m certain of is that I have no clue what the Chiefs will do. To demonstrate, my drafts have had them taking the following players in the 1st Round- some of these picks involved insane trades and/or inexplicably unrealistic drops. (To make it more realistic I tried to draft either a WR (for a fantastic pre-draft breakdown of the options at WR for the Chiefs this year, I highly recommend this unlocked for everyone post in Seth Keysor’s always great “The Chief in the North Newsletter”) or an OT because those seem to be the consensus two biggest needs for the Chiefs roster. I only drafted other positions if there were runs on WR/OT that left no good options in the 1st):
WR- Rome Odunze (he variously fell to 19 & 22, so I traded up)/Brian Thomas Jr. (he was available at 25 & once at 32!) Ladd McConkey/Adonai Mitchell/Xavier Worthy
OT- J.C. Latham (he impossibly fell to 32- perhaps he was smoking weed in the draft green room?)/Troy Fautanu (I traded up to 24)/Tyler Guyton/Jordan Morgan/Amarius Mims
CB- Cooper DeJean/Kool-Aid McKinstry (they both fell to 32)
DT- Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton
TE- Brock Bowers (I traded up to 25, a spot he will not be available)
A quick note: I was able to draft some of the WRs (McConkey, Mitchell, Worthy) and OTs (Guyton, Morgan, Mims) by trading back a few spots into the early 2nd round and gained picks in the process. Bonus picks that could be used for extra whacks at the WR and OT spots, since it seems to be a very deep draft for both positions. (I had a personal draft story but got so busy writing that I forgot to include it. Maybe next year.)
Just so you know, if KC gets Odunze, Thomas Jr., a top OT, or Bowers, this song will be blasting at my house…
My Thoughts on the Chiefs Moves So Far
The Chiefs have handled free agency almost perfectly. They kept the defense nearly intact (re-signing, among others, Mike Danna, Drue Tranquill AKA a Willie Gay Jr. upgrade, Tershawn Wharton, Derrick Nnadi, Deon Bush, and the previously mentioned Mike Pennel) and, most importantly, locked #95 up for the rest of his career. There’s only one Chris Jones and he’s the engine that makes the defense go. The Chiefs did the right thing by finally rewarding the 3X Super Bowl Champ with a top contract.
(For more on CJ’s impact check out Seth Keysor’s post-SBLVIII piece⬇️)
Unfortunately, to make Stone Cold’s contract work, they had to trade away CB 1A (or 1B depending on who you ask) L’Jarius Sneed. Letting him go hurts (especially since it was to an AFC team), but it seems to have been a necessary evil. The Chiefs couldn’t keep Chris Jones and Sneed unless one (or both) of them took a team-friendly deal, and no one should blame either of them for being unwilling to do that. I will never get mad at an NFL player for getting as much as they can, while they can. They don’t say that NFL stands for “Not For Long” for no reason. Get that bag, son! (I can say “son” because I’m old enough that either could very literally be my offspring)
Even though they lost Sneed, the Chiefs have proven they can find DB talent anywhere in the draft- from the 1st round (1st Team All-Pro Trent McDuffie) to the 7th (Jaylen Watson). With Veach, Spagnuolo, and the scouting department’s track record of drafting/finding talent for the secondary, I think the Chiefs will be ok on that front. And, as an added bonus, the Sneed move cleared a bunch of cap room for the draft and post-draft free agents. As I often hear Chiefs reporters and fans say: “In Veach we trust.”
As for the moves he’s made on offense and special teams, I think that trust needs to continue. I loved the “Hollywood” Brown pick-up (even more after the Rashee situation came up) and Carson Wentz is a huge upgrade at QB2 over Blaine Gabbert. Irv Smith Jr. could be a great grab for TE2 or TE3, as well. Letting Tommy Townsend go and signing Matt Araiza to replace him, seems like a low-key great football move by Veach, too. I also thought it was awesome that 3X Super Bowl Champ James Winchester was re-signed as the team’s long snapper.
(Before I forget, I am beyond excited by the signing of Louis Rees-Zammit. I have thoughts on his role for the upcoming season. More on that in the next Chiefs Chronicles. And that’s what we call a teaser…)
They still need another tackle or two, another WR or three, and a few other things here and there, but it’s the day before the draft and I think all of Chiefs Kingdom should feel pretty good about where the team is at.
That is all the energy I have to write for now, folks. Enjoy the draft and, as always, GO CHIEFS!!!
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Great combination of sports and humor!! Look forward to this column each week! Keep it up and we’ll cheer the Chiefs on to a record breaking season!! Thank you