As we head into the beginning of March, the NFL off-season is starting to heat up with the combine all wrapped up and free agency coming up in a few days.
For the Chiefs, fans are curious about what new faces will call One Arrowhead Drive home, who’ll stay, and which familiar names will be on their way out.
We’re no longer strangers to the crazy moves General Manager Brett Veach tends to make and most have worked out so far.
After finally winning a Lombardi for the first time in five decades, Veach told the team’s official podcast that he wants to bring as many players from the Chiefs’ Super Bowl roster back for 2020 that he possibly can.
“Look, we know how hard it is to win a Super Bowl and it hadn’t been done in 50 years and we won it with the group we had last year,” Veach explained. “So I think that as we attack this off-season, our goal and our mindset is to do whatever we can to retain as many players as we can,” he said.
So far, Veach is expected to franchise star defensive tackle Chris Jones and reportedly won’t be picking up the fifth-year option on tackle Cam Erving’s contract.
As this post is being written, Kansas City currently has 20 unrestricted free agents and 4 exclusive rights free agents.
According to Spotrac.com, the Chiefs currently have approximately $19.2 million in cap space and while Veach won’t be able to bring every player back, these are five players that should be at the top of the list to be re-signed.
# 5. Blake Bell – TE
The Chiefs signed Blake Bell on April 2, 2019, to compete with Deion Yelder for the backup spot behind Travis Kelce and eventually won the job as the second-string tight end.
Bell was heavily involved in Andy Reid’s multiple tight end sets and did a fantastic job setting up lanes for the rushers on outside runs and offered himself as a reliable throwing target for Pat Mahomes to throw to underneath.
Statically, Bell wasn’t the most productive tight end in the NFL, meeting his 2018 totals while with the Jacksonville Jaguars of 8 catches for 67 yards. Bell’s lone 8-yard touchdown catch of 2019 came during Kansas City’s Super Bowl run late in the 3rd quarter of the divisional round against the Houston Texans.
The Chiefs should consider bringing Bell back in 2020 because of his impact in the run game and his ability to provide another option in the passing game. He already knows Andy’s Reid scheme which could get him involved in the offense a little more and he won’t break the team financially. Bell’s cap hit was just $735k for 2019 per spotrac.com. So if the Chiefs are able to keep him around on a very cheap contract, that’s something Brett Veach should consider doing.
#4. Anthony Sherman – FB
Anthony Sherman became a Chief via trade with the Arizona that sent cornerback Javier Arenas to the Cardinals in 2013. Since then, Sherman has become arguably the best fullback for Kansas City since Tony Richardson was leading the way for Priest Holmes.
Sherman was scheduled to be a free agent following the 2018 season before signing a one-year deal to remain in Kansas City. Now, the two sides are back where they were an off-season ago and the likelihood of another contract being agreed upon could be very real.
In regards to the run game and his ability to lead block, Sherman has been an asset for the Chiefs and a cheap one. After making roughly $2 million in 2018, Sherman signed an extension worth $1.024 million for the 2019 season with just $735k against the cap.
At 31 years old and still playing at a high level, the odds of working out another cheap contract extension to keep Sherman in Kansas City should be very doable.
And let’s be honest, training camp at St. Joseph wouldn’t be the same without ‘The Sausage’ arriving at training camp via racecar while wearing American flag-themed overalls.
#3. Reggie Ragland – LB
Reggie Ragland was acquired by the Chiefs in 2017 via trade from the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2019 NFL draft.
Ragland began the season deep down the Chiefs’ depth chart and didn’t see much – if any – playing time. However, Ragland finally got to see the field in Week 7 on Thursday Night Football against the Denver Broncos in place of Darren Lee.
Ragland took the opportunity and made an instant impact against Denver defensively, recovering a forced fumble by Anthony Hitchens, taking it 5-yards for a score and registering a sack on Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco.
He played a major part in Kansas City’s defensive resurgence over the course of the season and helped improve the team’s ability to hold up against opposing rushing threats.
Since being acquired by Kansas City in 2017, Ragland has accounted for a combined 160 tackles and has excelled at being a run-stuffer in Spagnuolo’s defensive scheme.
At 26-years old, Ragland still has plenty of football left in him and deserves to remain a Chief but at the right price. The Alabama native spent the previous three seasons making a total of $2.9 million, proving what kind of a player he can be. Now fresh off a Super Bowl, he could be looking for a well-earned paycheck. But as long as it doesn’t hurt the team financially, giving Ragland a fair deal to remain in Kansas City, I believe would be worth it.
#2. Stefen Wisniewski – OL
The Chiefs brought in interior offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski on October 9, 2019, to help with the injuries the team sustained along the offensive line.
Wisniewski played in eleven games in relief for guards Andrew Wylie and Laurant Duvernay-Tardif when they suffered injuries at different points during the season and filled in nicely.
Of the issues the Chiefs dealt with on the o-line, Wisniewski was seldomly the problem and proved to be a great addition to the team.
At 31 years old, Wisniewski provides the Chiefs a veteran offensive lineman who isn’t just quality depth but also has the ability to start and compete for a roster spot.
According to Fansided’s Matt Verderame, the team reportedly has an interest in Wisniewski’s return to Kansas City in 2020 and set up a meeting with his representatives during last week’s combine on February 26. Although, no word was reported as to how those talks went or where the two sides stand with one another.
The Chiefs haven’t had a solid left guard since Brian Waters left in 2011 and have had a different player in the left guard slot every season since Andy Reid arrived in 2013. If Wisniewski is brought back to compete with Andrew Wylie in 2020, it not only helps improve the left side of the o-line, but it helps keep the best quarterback in the NFL upright, and isn’t that the ultimate goal?
#1. Mike Pennel – DT
To be honest, I might be a little biased but I absolutely LOVED the addition of Mike Pennel. The Topeka native bounced around the league as an undrafted free agent from Green Bay, to New York (Jets), to New England before finally arriving in Kansas City.
Pennel was brought in on October 19, 2019, to help support the team’s struggles at stopping the run defensively.
At 6-foot-4-inches and 330-pounds, Pennel’s presence was an instant game-changer for Kansas City’s defense, drastically improving the team’s ability to stuff the run and rounding up 24 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, and a sack in just eight games.
Pennel is a feel-good story of a young player that never got a fair shake in the NFL and after failing to make the New England Patriots final roster last August, his career seemed to be taking its last breaths. Until Brett Veach of the Chiefs called and gave him the opportunity he needed and made himself at home in Steve Spagnuolo’s defensive scheme.
Pennel rose from being an undrafted NFL journeyman to a Super Bowl champion as the Chiefs’ premiere run-stuffing defensive tackle for 2019.
During the NFL combine last month, Pennel expressed his desire to re-sign with the team if at all possible.
“I’d definitely like to stay here,” Pennel said, via the Kansas City Star. “I know this is the place where I work well with the coaches, I love the fan base, I love the city and my family stays out here. I know it’s a business, but I told my agents and I told everybody in the Kansas City Chiefs organization that I’d like to be back.”
Pennel’s cap hit for 2019 was only $473,529 which is just 0.3% of the team’s entire salary cap, so it should be more than possible to bring him back on a multi-year deal that won’t cost an arm and a leg.
Those are the five in-house free agents I believe the team should bring back for 2020, here’s to hoping Brett Veach feels the same way.
