The Chiefs Off Season.

If you heard there was a team in the NFL, ripping out a good portion of their defense and replacing them with new players, you may have pictured a team who just suffered a rough season. If you further heard, that they traded their quarterback of five years, and plan to start a rookie, you would have thought it a team under serious renovation, a process which is not completed during one off season. What you would not have thought, is that the team in question had a 12-4 season in 2016 and a 9-6 season in 2017 and is the current back-to-back AFC West Champs. But whether you quite realize it or not, this off season has been a whirlwind of trades, cuts and signings for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The accomplishment of back-to-back division titles was widely celebrated all around Kansas City, so you can imagine the disappointment at the stunning and heart wrenching loss to the Titans in the first round of the playoffs in what I will always refer to as the “forward progress game” (for further reading on that game, please see my blog post “Forward Progress Was Stopped”). For many days, possibly even weeks after the loss, we Chiefs fans hung our collective heads awaiting the fates of some of our favorite players.

Defense was the greatest question, as was the Defensive Coordinator. I heard many screaming for Bob Sutton’s head. Indeed, a few torches were lit for that lynch mob, but those notions were quickly put to rest, not long after the Titan’s loss. A defensive overhaul, most definitely, but firing the DC, absolutely not. What would follow was what I can only describe as a defensive purging in which the Chiefs would cut or trade some of the most well-known stars of the defensive side of the ball. However, I am getting ahead of myself.

Before the many defensive changes can be discussed, we must first shine a light on a trade that has been in the winds for almost a year, but still caused the heart of this Chief’s fan to drop ever so slightly. I was at home, playing on the floor with my baby girl, when the well-known Sports Center sound effect, sounded from my phone, notifying me of an update in the wide world of sports. I wrenched my phone from my pocket, and listened as my screen reader on my phone told me that Alex Smith (#11), Chiefs QB for five years, was just traded to the Washington Red Skins for a cornerback by the name of Kendall Fuller and a couple of draft picks. Along with just about every Chiefs fan in Kansas City, I knew this day would come, knew it as soon as the Chiefs moved up 16 spots in the 2017 draft to select Patrick Mahomes, but I still felt a frown cross my face, for I would miss my quarterback Alex Smith. Having only been a football fan for the last year and a half, Smith was the first football player I ever truly became a fan of, but I knew this was not a time for sentiment. The trade of Smith had been inevitable, and it was just the beginning.

Smith was the first domino to fall in what would turn out to be a cascade of trades, cuts and acquiring of new players, mostly on the defensive side. Many would leave some Chiefs fans scratching their heads, perhaps some even swearing that they would not be Chiefs fans any longer. “Don’t ever get too attached to a player,” said a good friend of mine who has been following football since before I was born. The following month, two of the Chiefs main staples and fan favorites, inside linebacker Derrick Johnson (#56) and outside linebacker Tamba Hali (#91) were both cut. Ron Parker (#38) and Phillip Gaines (#23) would be cut as well, but perhaps the most controversial move, which came in a form of a trade, was that of cornerback Marcus Peters (#22). The trade of the two-time Pro Bowler (2015-2016) to the Rams for a couple of draft picks left much puzzling and pondering, and the Chiefs staff had some splaining to do. Some were outraged by this cut, some said good riddance. Others questioned the motives, whether or not it was truly a pure football decision and nothing more. It is a known fact, that Peters is one of the few Chiefs players, that still refused to stand for the National Anthem. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt was outspoken against this stance but still, Peters refused to conform. Hunt and Peters would come to an agreement that Peters would remain in the locker room until the anthem had ceased. This was not the only piece of controversy surrounding Peters. The cornerback had what I have heard referred to many times as a tumultuous season in which his behavior was called into question more than once. There were incidents of lashing out at fans and officials, including during the Chiefs vs. Jets game. Following a frustrating holding call, Peters picked up the penalty flag and chucked it into the stands. Peters then walked off the field believing he had been ejected only to return minutes later not wearing any socks under his cleats.

Because of these reasons and others, it has been hotly debated in the newspapers, on air waves, bar stools and my own place of employment, just why Peters, a two- time Pro Bowler and defensive force to be reckoned with would be traded for nothing more than a couple of draft picks. I remember when the trade was released, but the compensation had not yet been made clear. “Well surely we got some star player of the Rams roster,” was what I continued to hear and I admit that I believed the same thing. So you can imagine my surprise, and the surprise of others, when the compensation was released. It will always be a matter of strong debate on why the Chiefs would be content trading one of their star players for such a small amount. Was it truly a football decision, or was Peters a disruption in the locker room as some have suggested? That question will probably never be answered, but one of the facts that did surface not long after the trade, is that out of 31 other teams, it was reported that 29 of them were not interested, leaving only the 49ers and the Rams at the bargaining table. So, with a three year career in Kansas City, and indeed in the NFL (2015, 2016 and 2017) Peters will be heading to LA to join the Rams for the 2018 season.

Over the course of the next month and well into free agency, the Chiefs would acquire several new players, to fill the gaps of the players that have departed. Anthony Hitchens (#53) was selected to fill the void left by the departure of Derrick Johnson at inside linebacker. Johnson having been one of Hitchens’ idols in his college football days as an Iowa Hawkeye. Most recently, the Chiefs acquired Northern Iowa nose tackle Xavier Williams from the Arizona Cardinals. One of the more exciting acquisitions of free agency, was that of Sammy Watkins (#14), wide receiver out of Clemson. Watkins had been drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2014, and has been referred to by some as a “speed merchant” back in his days as a Clemson Tiger. This provides just another exciting addition to a Chiefs offense that is on the verge of becoming explosive, provides excitement to Chiefs fans and gives just one more target for our gun slinging new rookie quarterback. With wide outs like Tyreek Hill (#10) and Sammy Watkins, both providing a deep threat, a tight end like Travis Kelce (#87) and a backfield loaded with running backs, including the lead rusher in the league in 2017, the possibilities for Mahomes are endless. When you’re an opposing team, and you have two wide outs in Watkins and Hill, a tight end like Kelce to contend with, and the always present threat of the league’s leading rusher in Kareem Hunt (#27) blasting out of the backfield, you will constantly be having to ask the question, “Just who do we cover, and with how many players?” And, just to put an exclamation point on what I have been writing about, as I write this post, I have received news that the Chiefs are expected to sign running back Damien Williams, who spent four seasons with the Dolphins. This will add even more depth to an already stacked backfield with Kareem Hunt and Spencer Ware (#32).




With the defense under construction, and the offense looking more and more explosive all the time, it is this humble sports writer’s opinion that Chiefs fans have a lot to be excited about. New GM Brett Veach has been very proactive in building a new Chiefs team. It usually takes several losing seasons and a failing franchise before a team is rebuilt. High praise goes to Veach for beginning that process before it gets that bad. When asked about this process and his motives for doing so, Veach has stated that the Chiefs are not interested in winning a Super Bowl in four years, but looking to make that a reality immediately. The draft still awaits, and it shall be interesting to see the choices that are made when the Kansas City Chiefs are on the clock.