Pugs’ 2/12 Chiefs Offseason Mock

[pugsnotdrugs19]

NOTICE: The Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV over the San Francisco 49ers. HC Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach are retained. **couldn’t leave this out

Now, these are all moved that I THINK will happen/not happen.... not necessarily what I want. So please keep that in mind.

CUTS:

1. Sammy Watkins — $14M saved. Hope we can trade him but I am going to expect the worst and hope for the best.

2. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif — $5M saved. He has gotten worse, and the cap number is simply too high now.

3. Cam Erving — $3.25M saved. Can get better here.

CAP SPACE AFTER CUTS: $34.5M

TRADES:

1. Chiefs tag and trade Chris Jones to the Seattle Seahawks for 2020 1st (27th) and 2021 3rd — Seattle has two 2nds to ease the blow this year and is probably afraid to draft another bust. They add an elite interior force on the DL as Clowney walks out the door. Kansas City gets an offer they are comfortable with and moves forward knowing that money is tight.

2. I expect Veach to make some sort of other trade(s), like he did with Ogbah, but there’s not a chance in hell that I can project it.

RE-SIGNINGS:

1. Mike Pennel, DT — 2 yrs, $5.5M. About half guaranteed. Will help to ease the blow of Jones leaving. Pennel is a true force against the run.

2. Stefen Wisnieswski, OG — 1 yr, $2M. Wis was our best IOL this season and seems like a good veteran to have around young players.

3. Emmanuel Ogbah, DE — 1 yr, $6M. Fully guaranteed. Ogbah runs it back in KC with a good system that will help him get the big pay day in 2021. Veach takes care of the DE position before draft day ever arrives.

4. Matt Moore, QB — 1 yr, $2M. He has proven capable of being able to compete and/or beat very good teams if needed. Keep.

5. Anthony Sherman — 1 yr, $1M. Rinse, repeat. Great special teamer and a leader.

ERFAs: Chiefs bring back Andrew Wylie, Marcus Kemp, Deon Yelder, and David Wells on cheap ERFA deals.

CAP SPACE AFTER RE-SIGNINGS: about $20.5M.

EXTENSIONS:

1. Patrick Mahomes, QB — 4 yrs, $150M, with a guaranteed $120M. 2020 cap hit goes up to around $15M, leaving KC about $10M in space.

2. Travis Kelce, TE — extended for 2 yrs, $24M thru 2023. Current $11.2M cap hit for 2020 shrinks to $5.2M ($6M created).

3. Tyrann Mathieu, S — extended for 2 yrs, $28M thru 2023. Current $16.3M cap hit for 2020 shrinks to $12.3M ($4M created).

CAP SPACE AFTER EXTENSIONS: approx. $20M, with $4-5M preserved for the draft class.

FREE AGENTS:

1. Austin Blythe, G/C — 3 yrs, $18M ($4M hit for ‘20). Blythe wasn’t healthy at all despite starting 15 games in 2019, but was a very good guard in 2018. Good fit for KCs scheme as a zone blocker who pass protects pretty well. G/C versatility, can be an upgrade at either RG or C for KC.

2. Kevin Johnson, CB — 1 yr, $4M. Former 1st round pick who had his best season last year in Buffalo. I am expecting Breeland to get the SB champion happy tax and price himself out of KC, leaving us to try and find another guy much like him a year ago as a starting boundary CB.

DRAFT:

1st round (from Seattle) — Kenneth Murray, ILB, Oklahoma. This is a big need for this defense moving forward if they want to fix a big weakness (sideline to sideline speed), and help to alleviate the loss of Jones. Murray will immediately be our best inside backer.

TRADE: Chiefs send their other 1st rounder (pick 32) to Arizona for R2 (pick 40), ARZ’s 4th rounder, and also their 7th rounder.

2nd round (from Arizona) — Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU. Maybe the fastest player in the draft, Reid wants more speed on his offense as Watkins goes out the door. Hill, Reagor, and Hardman with Kelce also in the fold means DCs across the league will not get any sleep.

2nd round (from SF) — Bryce Hall, CB, Virginia. A former teammate of Juan Thornhill, Hall could take this secondary up another notch as a long term starting boundary CB.

3rd round (KC) — Zack Moss, RB, Utah. Moss will come in and provide competition to Damien Williams. With short and long term starter potential, the Chiefs are set at RB here.

4th round (from ARZ) — Thaddeus Moss, TE, LSU. The strong gets stronger. Immediate upgrade from Blake Bell, and a legitimate threat as a pass catcher.

4th round (KC) — Solomon Kindley, IOL, Georgia. Could very well become an immediate starter at G or C.

5th round (KC) — Justin Herron, OT, Wake Forest. New swing tackle.

7th round (from ARZ) — Geno Stone, S, Iowa. Chiefs take a flyer on a special teamer who may develop into a Sorensen type role.

With my moves above, we end up with around $8M in cap space. Not perfect, but no offseason ever is.

[The Franchise]

I dig it. Although I’d hope that Colquitt was gone.

[Dante84]

Something no one is really talking about is Mitch Schwartz. He’s entering his last year on the current deal, and likely has a decent payday looming. We can’t afford to lose “The Wall.”

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by Dante84

Something no one is really talking about is Mitch Schwartz. He’s entering his last year on the current deal, and likely has a decent payday looming. We can’t afford to lose “The Wall.”

They extended him at training camp, he’s here thru 2021

[Hoover]

Geno Stone is the perfect guy to replace Dirty Dan with. He played the Robber position with the Hawkeyes, he can bring some attitude.

[ntexascardfan]

I'm not a fan of the first three picks.

I'm not sure Murray's game translates well to the NFL, I think he's going to be a bust.

Jaelon Raegor is too small. I want our replacement for Watkins to be a guy with speed, but can play with some physicality.

I've been seeing a lot of Bryce Hall, but he isn't a good fit for press coverage and more physical schemes. He'll be a great zone guy, but he isn't the guy we want for when we start manning up and challenging receivers at the LoS.

I'd like to see a couple drafts where we work to get CJ Henderson in the first. I think he's the best fit for our scheme in the entire draft.

[RunKC]

I like it. I do think Reagor will go first rd unfortunately due to his track speed. Think you should check out Jordyn Brooks from Texas Tech. He’s already one of my favorite LB’s in this class.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Reagor isn’t that small, 5’11” 194. I’ll understand if they want a little more size but the main thing I think is that they get a WR who can threaten press coverage.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by RunKC

I like it. I do think Reagor will go first rd unfortunately due to his track speed. Think you should check out Jordyn Brooks from Texas Tech. He’s already one of my favorite LB’s in this class.

I’ll have to look at him.

One thing I found with the mock was that there are several ways to attack their needs, and it is helpful that there seems to be so much depth at WR and CB.

[wachashi]

This would be the best case scenario if Jones is priced out of KC. I could definitely see it happening. And if we do end up with two late first rounders, trading back with one of those picks makes a ton of sense.

Jalen Reagor would be spooky in this offense. Huge fan.

[kccrow]

I rather like it, overall.

My biggest issue is Murray. I just do not like him at all. Speed is great and all, but I think NFL lineman are going to destroy him routinely. Could get lucky and he is the next Derrick Johnson but those first 5 or so years of Johnson weren't very amazing either. I wouldn't have that type of patience again and I can see it taking a while for Murray to become that type of player as well. I'd much prefer a guy that already has the strength and ability to play at the LOS than one you hope can learn.

I think we very much disagree on Pennel's value, and quite frankly I don't know if I could put that much into a part-time run stopper. If he's becoming your primary rotation, I suppose it may be worth it but you better get at least Lawrence Guy type of production and playing time. That said, you also don't address a 3-tech that can provide you some pass rush. You have 3 big dudes in Saunders, Nnadi, and Pennel and none of them are going to give you much there. I'd like to see a draft pick at least go to that.

If the Chiefs do ditch Watson, Reagor is one of the tops on my list in the draft. He's a matchup nightmare that should run low 4.3s. I think he's a better prospect coming out than Hardman was and by quite a bit. He'd have a shot to start. I'm not even sure he makes it to round 2, honestly. He's going to blow the doors off the combine.

I have Kindley rated much higher than you do but I know a couple draft outlets don't. A big guy that moves like him and plays like him doesn't usually make it out of day 2. We'll see, but I'd probably pencil him in no later than the 96th pick.

Herron is an interesting guy. Obviously needs to work on strength alot when he gets to the NFL. That said, he's got some athleticism and ability to play LT even though he's pretty bad in the run game right now. Not too many guys in this draft I see as anything but RTs or OGs, so he might be worth a stab in the dark. I think he's a later guy than the 5th and would probably be there top of the 7th, but what's it matter that late anyhow.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Re: Crow

Full disclosure, my picks are based off of small bits of highlight tapes I’ve seen when it comes to guys like Murray, Reagor, and Hall. I just haven’t dove into draft prospects much yet because KC went the distance. I really need to watch some of the full games to see how he handles climbing OL, coverage awareness, etc.

More than anything I just see a huge need for ILB athleticism and if they could hit a home run there, it would transform the defense to another level.

The 3 tech thing was a real issue in my head too and I should have looked back in the FA market to see what may have been there if I couldn’t work one into the draft class. It’s going to be a bitch to fill all these holes with or without Jones, that’s for certain.

[RealSNR]

Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who is really intrigued by Thaddeus Moss. At the very least, he's definitely got potential as a blocker.

Reid seems to like taking on projects at the TE2 position with a basketball player (Harris) and ex-QB (Bell). Moss already would be a better blocker than either of those guys.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who is really intrigued by Thaddeus Moss. At the very least, he's definitely got potential as a blocker.

Reid seems to like taking on projects at the TE2 position with a basketball player (Harris) and ex-QB (Bell). Moss already would be a better blocker than either of those guys.

I’d really like to get better at TE2. We used quite a bit of 12 personnel this year and I think Reid could do some great things with a legitimate threat in Bell’s place next season.

May ease the blow of losing Watkins. Plus, Kelce has been super durable thus far but you’d like to be prepared for disaster as much as possible.

[YontsRBake]

I like a lot of this but am confused as to why you guys want a WR with a high draft pick? Pringle is good enough to be the slot in this offense and produce (he already did it as the 1 this year). Id rather stay at 32 and draft interior OL.