Mock (12/27)

[Direckshun]

Assumptions:

1. The Chiefs do well this coming season. HC Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach are retained.

2. The Chiefs franchise: OT Orlando Brown.

3. The Chiefs cut: DE Frank Clark, ILB Anthony Hitchens

4. The Chiefs extended: WR Tyreek Hill for 4 years, $80m ($52m guaranteed), S Tyrann Mathieu for 3 years, $50m ($21m guaranteed).

5. The Chiefs tender: WR Marcus Kemp, WR Jody Fortson, CB Chris Lammons

6. The Chiefs trade their 2022 3rd round pick for DT Michael Pierce (Vikings) and a 2022 4th round pick.

7. The Chiefs re-sign: OT Mike Remmers, 1 year, $3m; DE Melvin Ingram, 2 years $18m ($7m guaranteed).

8. The Chiefs re-sign to minimal deals: RB Derrick Gore, FB Michael Burton, WR Byron Pringle, TE Blake Bell, OG Andrew Wylie, C Austin Blythe, DT Derrick Nnadi; LB Ben Niemann, LB Dorian O'Daniel, CB Mike Hughes, CB DeAndre Baker, S Dan Sorensen

9. The Chiefs let walk: RB Darrel Williams, RB Jerick McKinnon, WR Demarcus Robinson, WR Josh Gordon, OT Prince Tega Wanogho, OG Kyle Long, DT Jarran Reed, DE Alex Okafor, CB Charvarius Ward, S Armani Watts.

10. The Chiefs sign RB Phillip Lindsay (Dolphins); WR Chris Godwin (Buccaneers); DE Derrick Barnett (Eagles); LB Nick Vigil (Vikings)

11. The Chiefs are picking late in the draft.

The draft:

1. DE Jermaine Johnson, Florida State
2. CB Mario Goodrich, Clemson
4 (Pierce). OT Jaxson Kirkland, Washington
4. DE Zach Harrison, Ohio State
7. LB Payton Wilson, North Carolina State
7. RB Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss

the roster:

QB: Mahomes, Buechele
RB: Edwards-Helaire, Lindsay, Gore, Ealy
FB: Burton

WR: Hill, Godwin, Pringle, Hardman, Kemp
TE: Kelce, Bell, Gray, Fortson

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

DE: Barnett, Johnson, Kaindoh
DT: Jones, Wharton
DT: Pierce, Nnadi, Saunders
DE: Ingram, Danna, Harrison

OLB: Gay, O'Daniel
ILB: Bolton, Niemann
OLB: Vigil, Wilson

CB: Sneed, Fenton, Goodrich, Hughes, Baker, Lammons
S: Mathieu, Thornhill, Sorensen, Anderson

K: Butker
P: Townsend
LS: Winchester

[Direckshun]

So here's what I'm going for, here.

First, I suspect that if Veach continues to work his ass off to red-carpet Mahomes, he was willing to shred cap space in 2021 for Trent Williams, With Godwin likely hitting free agency, at a hint of a discount due to injury, I'd suspect Veach will play the long game here and jump into the Godwin sweepstakes. Godwin will give you absolutely nothing through the first half of the season. But he can join this team and help it kick into gear in November. If Godwin is back to form and fully integrated by January, no offense in the NFL can hang with us (shy of a Denver offense that may have added Aaron Rodgers).

Second, I made a couple moves to add some dynamism to the RB room. Gore seems to be a tougher, faster, more decisive runner than Williams. And the two players I added -- Lindsay and Ealy -- add some game-breaking ability.

Very, very important, is fixing that DL. I don't like any of the DE options in free agency, so I made a Veach-esque move by turning Derek Barnett into our latest reclamation project. I cut Clark (expected) and re-signed Ingram (expected). But I let Jarran Reed walk for Derrick Nnadi as a $$$ calculation -- only to make a pretty impactful trade for Michael Pierce out of Minnesota, who I've seen a couple Vikings bloggers suggest could be a cap move. Hey, we didn't expect Jarran Reed either, did we?

Pierce, combined with Jones and Ingram, give this DL a ton of juice and will ensure we own the trenches. We will own them. And we'll still be able to generate pressure if Jones isn't playing, which has been a problem this year. I burn a couple draft picks at DE, and hope for the continued development of Kaindoh and Danna.

I let Ward walk, but bring back Hughes and Baker, and spend a 2nd rounder on corner to keep the position churning through young talent. The team needs more depth at safety, but hey.

[Chris Meck]

I doubt Blythe would return; he was here under pretense of competing to start and that will never happen now.

I cannot back any plan that has Sorensen and Niemann both returning.

I don't see why we wouldn't retain Darrel Williams; he won't be expensive and has been dependable.

I don't mind the Pierce trade.

I'm for retaining Ingram, and don't hate the Mathieu deal although I don't know if that's enough to get it done.

Totally on board with retaining Hughes and Baker.

I don't know why you'd cut Prince when you've been grooming him for the swing tackle spot for two years now. It's not like he'll be expensive.

[Buehler445]

These offseason mocks are going to be tough.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Godwin business. FA WR are overpaid IMO. Philosophically I'm looking for gamebreakers in the draft because they're overpaid, unless their name is Hill or Rice.

There was some good discussion on Lindsay early when our RBs were blowing 9 kinds of ass. The consensus was his passblocking is shit. I'm not sure a guy like that has a role here.

[Chris Meck]

yeah, and you know Hill's gonna get like 100 balls, and Kelce's gonna get like 100 balls...and that's why FA WR's pass on playing here.

I'd rather draft our future stars at WR and RB.

[Hayneplane]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

yeah, and you know Hill's gonna get like 100 balls, and Kelce's gonna get like 100 balls...and that's why FA WR's pass on playing here.

I'd rather draft our future stars at WR and RB.

I do believe a true legit WR2 would be targeted for 6+ throws per game at least if they showed capacity to consistently get separation from their coverage. Playing in this offence should be a draw card.

Kenny Golladay took the money in FA but looking at his stats this year he can’t be enjoying it much in New York.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

yeah, and you know Hill's gonna get like 100 balls, and Kelce's gonna get like 100 balls...and that's why FA WR's pass on playing here.

I'd rather draft our future stars at WR and RB.

That’s fine, but can’t put all our eggs in one basket seeing our track record under Veach at drafting offensive skill positions. Probably need both a veteran FA and draft pick at WR to hedge our bets.

[smith11]

Originally Posted by Hayneplane

I do believe a true legit WR2 would be targeted for 6+ throws per game at least if they showed capacity to consistently get separation from their coverage. Playing in this offence should be a draw card.

Kenny Golladay took the money in FA but looking at his stats this year he can’t be enjoying it much in New York.

any chance calvin ridley back and available in trade?

[bevischief]

Looks good outside what Kelice desides todo this off season...

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Hayneplane

I do believe a true legit WR2 would be targeted for 6+ throws per game at least if they showed capacity to consistently get separation from their coverage. Playing in this offence should be a draw card.

Kenny Golladay took the money in FA but looking at his stats this year he can’t be enjoying it much in New York.

Doubtful.

Look at the all 22 nearly any week. Guys get open. It's just that so do Hill and Kelce, and Mahomes trusts them, so he's going there if he can. And why wouldn't he? He spread the ball around against Pittsburgh because Kelce was out and they doubled Hill deep. So that was good to see. But that's not usual.

If Hill and Kelce are here, they're going to get the ball. A #2 WR most anywhere else is #3 here, and THAT is why they've passed on KC so far.

If we want to upgrade WR (and I agree we should, by the way) we're going to have to draft it.

We've got #3 WR types. We don't really have a #2. That's fine, actually, but I agree we need to start improving the talent behind Hill, I just think we'll have to draft and develop it.

[kccrow]

No way in hell the Chiefs have a shot at Godwin in my opinion, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him franchise tagged if the Bucs can't reach a deal. He's a number one receiver in most offenses and he'd be the 3rd option here. Not buying it.

I can't imagine Tyreek "only" getting 4 for 80. I think he's going to, at minimum, leapfrog Julio Jones 22 per and no doubt his agent will push for him to set the market. He's the most electric receiver in the NFL.

The trade for Pierce is interesting. He's definitely a space-eater in the middle. That said, you're picking up quite a bit in cap for marginally better performance.

I think you'd be grossly overpaying Ingram at 2 for 18. He's not that caliber of player anymore. He's a nice piece but not that kind of piece. He signed for 4 million this year. I'd stay more in line with that.

Letting Darrel Williams walk only to sign Lindsay makes little sense to me. Williams has been a good receiver out of the backfield and is a better play on 3rd downs. I don't know that Lindsay is the same player outside of Denver's system, he certainly hasn't been much.

All that said, I do like your draft thoughts even if I question some things. I don't know that Harrison will declare and, frankly, he shouldn't. I'm thinking Kirkland is a 2nd round guy, especially if he tests well. I think the 4th is reaaaaaally pushing it. I think you're a round or two high on Goodrich and I'm not overly impressed with Clemson CBs as a rule. Flip Kirkland and Goodrich in your draft and I think it would be a better reflection. Overall though, I'd like it from a positional/value perspective the way you have it assembled.