Chiefs answer biggest looming question after the draft

The Chiefs signing Jawaan Taylor was a splash signing but the offensive line still had a major hole that wasn’t filled in the draft. They’ve done so now.

Though shocking, the biggest splash the Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs made in the offseason was to shake up the offensive line, allowing Orlando Brown Jr. to walk in free agency but then signed Jawaan Taylor to a massive contract as a replacement.

In the wake of that move and the perception that Taylor, who played virtually every snap with the Jaguars at right tackle in his NFL career, would move to the left side, there was an underlying question: Who would play right tackle?

Lost in the Brown-Taylor shuffle was the fact that Andrew Wylie was also a free agent and also signed elsewhere. The hope was that Lucas Niang could possibly step in but, given his health issues, that was anything but certain. And though the team drafted Wanya Morris in the third round, there was still some uncertainty.

On Wednesday, they settled that. As reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Chiefs are signing veteran tackle Donovan Smith to a one-year contract worth up to $9 million.

Chiefs news: Donovan Smith answers biggest remaining question after draft

Smith comes in as a huge presence for this team in terms of shoring up the offensive line. Though he has declined recently as he’ll turn 30 in June, he’s still be a solid, experienced left tackle in Tampa Bay. Now, the Chiefs can bring him in and start him on the left side, allow Taylor to stay on his natural right side, and keep Patrick Mahomes safe.

More importantly, with the language of the deal being “worth up to $9 million”, the fact of the matter is that they likely aren’t tying big guarantees to Smith. As such, they could still give Niang and Morris their shots at left or right tackle as well as getting looks at Taylor on the left side to figure out the best combination.

Coming out of the draft, no one obviously felt bad about the Chiefs — their roster remains in great overall shape to contend for another Super Bowl. However, there was a question about how they would reshape the O-line given the turnover there this offseason. Signing Smith answers that question in a massive way and sets them up perhaps even better in the trenches than they were a year ago.