The Kansas City Chiefs dynasty has reached the Super Bowl five times since 2020, but that doesn't mean there are no areas to improve.
In fact, Kansas City has worked hard over recent years to retool its receiving corps, adding a few veterans on short-term deals to a bunch of young prospects who have yet to put it all together.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has expressed his excitement about the approach in the past. With the current state of the receiver room heading into the NFL Draft later this month, the Chiefs would be smart to follow a similar process and add an experienced player to their receiving group.
The Chiefs need to look at Tyler Lockett
The Seattle Seahawks released Lockett in March after 10 years with the franchise, where he became its second all-time leading receiver behind Hall-of-Famer Steve Largent. Lockett was a huge part of the Seattle offense, using his speed in the passing game and as a ball-carrier in the running game and putting up four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2019 to 2022.
He is also fourth among active NFL players with 13,125 career all-purpose yards and third in return yards.
His play kept him with the team that long, even earning a late contract extension last offseason. Yet, Lockett responded with one of the worst seasons of his career and became a cap casualty as the Seahawks opened up at least $17 million with his release.
Nonetheless, Kansas City would be smart to kick the tires on the veteran receiver and see what he has left. His 5-foot-10 frame fits the mold of receiver the team seems to like, with most on the current roster sitting somewhere between 5-foot-9 and 6-foot-1, with speed as their primary attribute.
Pairing Lockett with guys like Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Xavier Worthy, and Rashee Rice would stretch defenses to the brim on most days -- not to mention star tight end Travis Kelce.
Worst case scenario, Lockett becomes a seasoned mentor for the younger guys in the group and helps improve special teams in the return game as a weapon most other teams would not have.
Lockett fits Kansas City's recent trend of free agent signings, especially at receiver
Signing Lockett makes almost too much sense for the Chiefs at this point, especially given their recent history of free agent signings.
Kansas City has a habit of bringing in veteran guys at positions of need on low-cost, high-reward contracts. They did it at receiver just last season by adding DeAndre Hopkins, and have done it many other times with guys like Smith-Schuster, Brown, Demarcus Robinson, and Sammy Watkins.
It hasn't just been receivers either. Similar moves have been made at running back and in the secondary with players like Le'Veon Bell. Ronald Jones, Darrelle Revis, LeSean McCoy, and Bashaud Breeland.
What would Lockett cost?
Lockett's most recent contract was a two-year deal worth $29.66 million. He didn't play to that standard last season, so he will likely get less than that from whoever gives him a shot. Spotrac.com projects he will sign for around a $7.7 million salary.
That puts him just above what most of the players mentioned above got from the Chiefs. It might be a tight squeeze with the current cap situation, but with so many unproven players at the position, Kansas City needs to make a move at receiver, and Tyler Lockett is a logical fit.