AFC West Roundup: Post-Season and Pre Free Agency

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs season ended again in playoff disappointment with a hard-fought home loss to the Steelers. It was an ugly game that was a slog for both sides. But it also showed that the Chiefs aren’t going anywhere.

That’s because many of their young stars played like stars. Tyreek Hill got held down on the stat sheet but provided a scary and useful decoy when on the field. Travis Kelce played well when he wasn’t being an idiot. You know, blaming others for costing his team a game he cost them as much as anyone.

Albert Wilson scored a TD. Marcus Peters and the Chiefs secondary mostly bottled up a potent Steelers passing attack. Chris Jones was a beast on the d-line. This team has some good young pieces and will be around for some time.

They also have some good veteran pieces. Recent news says they are prioritizing signing Eric Berry to keep one of those pieces in KC. Berry is walking inspiration with his personal triumphs, and has expressed a desire to stay with the Chiefs. They would be fools to do anything but everything in  their power to lock up such a great player, leader, and person.

The Walrus has kept his staff mostly static, as per the status quo for Andy Reid offseasons. However, they did lose highly respected receivers coach David Culley, who joined Sean McDermott’s staff in Buffalo. The Chiefs, aside from Jeremy Maclin, have a relatively young and unproven receiver corps. Losing a coach as good as Culley could be a potential blow to their development.

There are other potential changes in the works that could vastly impact Kansas City’s executive makeup as well. Their director of player personnel, Chris Ballard, has interviewed for the vacant Colts GM job.

Rumors surround highly respected and successful Chiefs GM John Dorsey as well. He’s said to be the top candidate to replace Ted Thompson in Green Bay, IF Thompson retires. Dorsey isn’t guaranteed to leave but the possibility is there.

One or both leaving at this stage of the offseason would be a harmful blow to KC. Their ability to negotiate with free agents and make player personnel decisions would be hampered. They’d have to concentrate on hiring personnel rather than scouting players on the whole. It would be difficult.