3 Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl champs who won’t be back next season
By Mark Powell
The Kansas City Chiefs roster could look very, very different after Super Bowl 57. Here’s just some of what to expect this offseason.
Patrick Mahomes and (hopefully) Andy Reid are here to stay, for now. But the Chiefs do have a lot of work to do in the 2023 NFL offseason.
Next season is a long ways away, and if the Chiefs hope to replicate some of this year’s success, they’ll have to add to their talent pool, rather than subtract.
Brett Veach is one of the best executives in the business. Kansas City will ned to restructure some contracts in the hopes of adding talent, as they are tight against the salary cap. To make things even more interesting, Veach could go to his quarterback and MVP, Mahomes to do just that.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Prior to free agency, there will be the NFL Draft. Veach must decide one simple thing of the Chiefs crop of free agents — who stays, and who goes.
Kansas City Chiefs who won’t be back: RB, Ronald Jones
Of all the Kansas City running backs, Ronald Jones seems the least effective and necessary.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire is at the very least a former first-round pick and has shown flashes at times, though he has fumbling issues and was injured for much of this season. Jerick McKinnon is an elite blocker, as he showed at many times during the Kansas City 2023 playoff run. And Isiah Pacheco is a star in the making out of Rutgers.
The Chiefs stole Pacheco late in the NFL Draft, and rewarded them with a surprising rookie campaign which vaulted him up the depth chart. He’ll enter 2023 training camp as they favorite to keep the starting job.
Jones doesn’t have much value at this point on the KC depth chart. If anything, he should want a fresh start elsewhere.