If I were Brett Veach, Part 2: In-house Chiefs free agents... who stays, who goes?

Our yearly offseason series continues as I look at what I would do with the Chiefs hitting free agency if I were the GM.

Talking about the offseason is always fun, especially after a Super Bowl win (isn’t it a marvelous thing to know that, Chiefs fans?). And that means it’s time for our annual offseason tradition in which I put myself in the shoes of the Chiefs’ general manager and lay out how I’d handle each step of the way. It’s time for “If I were Brett Veach.”

Team building isn’t a static thing. It’s not one size fits all.

It reminds me a bit of the legal practice in that way. People often ask “what happens in such-and-such sort of case,” and the answer is almost always “it depends.” That drives people crazy, but every case is different. Who the parties are, the specific facts alleged, the judge, the attorneys, the strength of the case, the desires of any victims… A case charged out the exact same way could end totally different because of those factors.

NFL teams are similar. While they all deal with the same “case” (building a team within the confines of the salary cap), they each have different ownership, personnel, scheme/coaches, cap situations for the present and future, and even goals for a specific year. Because of that, a player’s value isn’t static. It varies from team to team. Frank Clark was probably more valuable to Kansas City last year than he would have been for another team, for example. Same with Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

That’s something to keep in mind as we go through our “If I were Brett Veach” series. Kansas City’s needs are specific to them, and one needs to take that into account in laying out a plan. In Part 1, I went through some cap-saving moves and got the Chiefs to a spot where they have $43.5 million in cap space in 2023 (and way more beyond that). Short version; Cut Clark (for now), extend Jones, restructure Mahomes.

Now, in part 2, we’ll look at the Chiefs players who are hitting free agency and create a general plan. As I did last season, I’m going to put each potential free agent into four categories: Gotta Have ‘Em, If The Money Is Right, Bargain Bin Only, and Let Them Go. Keep in mind that all these terms are relative to the market/player. The bargain bin price on, say, Juju Smith-Schuster is very different from the bargain bin price on Justin Watson.

Let’s get moving on who to bring back and who to let walk.