Mock (6/21)
 

Assumptions:

1. The Chiefs do well this coming season. HC Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach are retained. The salary cap jumps $35m.

2. Before the 2021 season starts: OG Laurent Duvarney-Tardif is traded with a 2022 6th round pick to the Houston Texans for OT/G Tytus Howard and a 2022 4th round pick; S Tyrann Mathieu is extended for 3 years, $52m ($30m guaranteed).

3. OC Eric Bienemy is hired by your mom's second favorite team to become a HC.

4. The Chiefs franchise: OT Orlando Brown.

5. The Chiefs extended: WR Tyreek Hill for 4 years, $80m ($52 guaranteed).

6. The Chiefs tender: WR Jody Fortson, LB Emmanuel Smith

7. The Chiefs re-sign: DT Jarran Reed 2 years, $20m ($8m guaranteed), DT Derrick Nnadi 2 years, $9m ($1m guaranteed)

8. The Chiefs re-sign to minimal deals: QB Chad Henne, RB Darrel Williams, WR Marcus Kemp, LB Ben Niemann, LB Darius Harris, WR Byron Pringle, OT Mike Remmers, OG Andrew Wylie, C Austin Blythe, LS James Winchester

9. The Chiefs let walk: RB Jerick McKinnon, FB Michael Burton, OG Kyle Long, WR Demarcus Robinson, TE Blake Bell, TE Nick Keizer, DE Taco Charlton, OLB Dorian O'Daniel, CB Charvarius Ward, S Dan Sorensen, S Armani Watts.

10. The Chiefs sign WR Anthony Miller (Bears), TE MyCole Pruitt (49ers), CB Kyle Fuller (Broncos), S Darian Thompson (Cowboys).

11. The Chiefs are picking late in the draft.

The draft:

1. DE Aiden Hutchinson, Michigan (Chiefs trade a 4th and a 2023 2nd to move up)
2. DE Myjai Sanders, Cincinnati
3. CB Roger McCreary, Auburn
3 (Bienemy). S Bralen Trahan, Louisville
4. RB Zamir White, Georgia
6. CB Tiawan Mullen, Indiana
7. LB Nick Jackson, Virginia

the roster:

QB: Mahomes, Henne
RB: Edwards-Helaire, Williams, White, Thompson
FB: some guy

WR: Hill, Hardman, Pringle, Powell, Fortson, Miller
TE: Kelce, Gray, Pruitt

LT: Brown, Remmers
LG: Thuney, Wylie
C: Humphrey, Blythe
RG: Smith, Howard
RT: Niang, Remmers

DE: Clark, Sanders, Kaindoh
DT: Jones, Wharton
DT: Nnadi, Reed, Saunders
DE: Hutchinson, Danna

OLB: Gay, Jackson
ILB: Hitchens, Niemann
OLB: Bolton, Harris, Smith

CB: Sneed, Fuller, Fenton, McCreary, Keyes, Mullen
S: Mathieu, Thornhill, Trahan, Thompson

K: Butker
P: Townsend
LS: Winchester

LDT is a FA after this season.

Redo!

Couple thoughts.

1. The Chad Henne thing needs to come to an end. He's old. I know Andy loves these old backups, but I'd love to go younger and even cheaper at that position. Chiefs are all in with Mahomes, so its Mahomes or bust. And with our improved offensive line, we could just mash the ball down the field.

2. I get that we need to address the DE spot, but WR is just as big of need IMO, and that needs to be addressed in the draft.

3. For once I'm fine with no fatties being drafted.

Which is why we get him from an incompetent franchise for a former high round draft pick who hasn't lived up to expectations. Feels Veach-y.

I don't know what the cap implications are, but I'm getting the feeling that LDT isn't starting for us this year with the Tre Smith buzz.

I do agree with you on 1 and 3, I just don't care enough to research a ton of backup QBs at this point. Hennes fine for a stopgap.

As far as 2, I'm actually higher on Mecole Hardman than most.

Wait what?

You traded away LDT when he’s a FA and your response is that’s why we got him from an incompetent franchise?

Eric Bienemy is never going to be a HC in this league. That ship has sailed.

FYI, LDT would actually cost us money to trade and he has a no-trade clause as well.

Wow, I'm absolutely shocked that Reid and Veach will be retained after this season.

Who saw that coming?

Why and how could the Chiefs "Tender" Jody Fortson when he's never spent a moment on the 53?

Every year, you ****ing cut Dan Sorensen and every year, he makes spectacular plays that help the Chiefs win.

Why would the Chiefs sign 30 year old Kyle Fuller when their M.O. has always been to draft and sign younger cornerbacks?

Hell, Breeland was a critical component to reaching the Super Bowl for the past two seasons and the Chiefs allowed him to walk at age 29 this season.

And we resign Remmers and Niemann?

I'd just start over.

I mock this mock.

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Reading comprehension.

I didn't know about the no-trade clause.

LMAO

of all the things to whine about

I don't know about how; he's listed as an RFA in 2022.

Why, because I really like his skillset and we could use the depth.

I actually have him walking this year, rather than actively cutting him.

Because they're reaching a critical mass at DE, and that was before the Frank Clark potential-bombshell. Clark was looking super cuttable in 2022 prior to this drama as well, and the only reason I don't have him cut here is because our cupboard is completely bare. (I am not a believer in Chris Jones at DE.) So I'd like to see them go CB early but they gotta pound DE.

I've also had this conversation with SNR: I simply value CBs more than the current coaching staff. Which is fine and all, but I refuse to trot out Sneed and a bunch of JAGs. It goes against my constitution.

We could. Honestly you could get by with Bolton at Sam and backup Mike.

As for OT, I have the Chiefs trading for an OT project. I just like having the steady hand in Remmers.

Pointing out your epic dumbassery isn't "whining", Voyager

Since Veach took over, the Chiefs have traded for two defensive ends and signed others off the scrap heap, while Michael Danna was a 5th rounder.

I don't see the Chiefs drafting two defensive ends early because it's highly unlikely either of those guys can be immediate starters on a championship team, especially considering they'll be drafting 31st or 32nd in each round.

I think the Chiefs would trade for another DE before drafting one late in the first.

And drafting two guys at the same position in the same draft early rarely, if ever, works out. Teams would be lucky to hit on ONE guy, let alone, two. That's a waste of valuable, cheap resources.

I agree it makes more sense for the Chiefs to trade for a DE who can play now (especially because the free agent market at DE is not great).

But, two issues.

The Chiefs have the fewest players under contract in the NFL in 2022. And filling that roster is going to cost coin. Bargains will be made somewhere, and a cheap, good player for 5 years makes the most sense for a roster hunting for live bodies.

The second issue I alluded to above: cap space is going to be surprisingly tighter for this team going forward, even with the quickly rising cap.

Cutting Hitchens and Clark, restructuring Mathieu and letting LDT walk make a massive difference in cap room.

We'll be fine.

You're assuming either Hitchens or Clark will be cuttable.

It's still very early in camp, so none of us should make judgments yet, but Niemann is getting Sam reps over Bolton right now.

And it's not remotely clear how we could let Clark walk and not have our passrush fall off, yet.

There's simply no reason to worry about stuff like this.

Frank Clark is the 8th-highest cap hit in the entire league. He's gone after this season, he has to be.

How you replace him is something you worry about when the time comes but you don't ****ing keep him just because you don't have anything better.

2019: “How are we going to replace both Justin Houston AND Dee Ford?”
2021: “How are we going to replace Eric Fisher AND Mitchell Schwartz?”

Veach is a magician. Needless to say I’m not worried

Exactly.

ya think maybe that might be because Niemann knows the damned system in OTA's and the rookie doesn't yet?

Jesus.

Clark's not been much of a pass rush threat since February of 2020. He's gone next year, without a doubt.

Imma say “no” to Remmers @ LT…even as a backup.

And yes, without a huge year, Clark is bye-bye in 2022.

"It's still very early in camp, and none of us should make judgments yet"

Chris Meck: hold my beer

smh.

nah, I'll make judgements on your judgements.

DE - Cut Clark, snag a guy off the FA heap like Sam Hubbard, and draft a guy at least on day 2 would be my expectation.

CB - If Ward is going to be expensive, and I expect he will be relatively, then there are quite a few FA options out there next year. Veach will likely make a low-key vet move and probably add another day 3 guy.

S - Honestly could depend on the Mathieu situation and I'm not necessarily banking on Veach retaining him. If they don't, I could see a relatively high pick going here to go along with some scrap heap bargains to replace Sorensen and Watts. If they do, maybe they spend a mid-rounder on the position for now and still add a vet or two off the heap.

WR - I can't fathom anything but a hefty Hill extension. After that, we'll see what happens with the rookie but this could be a spot Veach starts to invest some picks in. I think we know what we have otherwise, which is a solid slot in Hardman and a bunch of JAGs. How high the picks are will depend a lot on the development of Powell and whether or not Callaway is reliable.

DT - Kind of the question mark with Nnadi and Reed. Nnadi is criminally underrated as a NT and I could see him entertaining more lucrative deals than you have outlined here on the open market. He's certainly better than Poona Ford and Star Lotulelei are and they both got 6 per deals. With the cap going up next year, I'd have to think that's his floor. We'll have to see how Reed fits but if it goes well then I could see an extension. It may be a good time for Veach to throw another dart at the board here just for depth.