Dead Money

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ROYC75

It is exactly what they are doing, And it's the Smartest move for them.

Yup.

Not everyone can keep a window open for a decade. Mahomes is a unicorn that allows that.

For everyone else it's about finding a window, attacking it, identifying a core for the future and then re-grouping and rebuilding around that core for a 2nd bite at the apple.

Then you find a new core, rinse and repeat.

For a 'normal' NFL team you're looking at maybe an 8 year cycle where you have a year of build up, 3 years where you gauge/attack your window, 2 years of rebuild/reload and then 2-3 years within a new window.

Then the guys you started with have aged out and you start the process anew. Now for Buffalo, their core guys weren't all that young to begin with so it's a different sequence for them, but they're definitely in their step-back period before trying to re-set a core and forge a new window.

The Chiefs are in their '2nd Window' already because somehow they won a damn SB in the 2022 'reload' year. Now they're making a 2nd attack with their Mahomes/Kelce/Jones core for a couple more years before they will also look to re-assess and reload.

2026 is likely to be a little bit of a step-back season where they identify their new core; likely around Mahomes, Rice and McDuffie. But I'd say they're in far better shape than most teams because of how well they've supplemented this roster with dudes like Karlaftis, Bolton and Creed as others have aged out.

The Chiefs have just done this better than everyone else.