The Chiefs left plenty of low-hanging fruit in the shadow of their humbling 40-22 Super Bowl loss last month. That fruit fed plenty of critics who didn’t think Kansas City did enough in free agency to remedy its glaring weakness on the offensive line.
But a handful of keen observers have recognized the Chiefs’ limitations and efforts within that umbrella. The latest of those is The Athletic writer Mike Jones, who ranked all 32 NFL ownership groups in one of five tiers. He put Chiefs owner Clark Hunt in the highest group.
“If we were to construct a ‘Want to Win’ meter, which category would team owners be in based on track record and the moves of this offseason?” Jones wrote Friday. “Contention mode? Willing to do what it takes to win? Content to compete? Trying to get it right? Or stuck in struggle mode?”
Jones grouped Kansas City in his Contention Mode category, along with Baltimore, Buffalo, Detroit and Philadelphia.
“The Hunt family’s team is the gold standard of how to build a winning franchise in the modern age,” Jones said. “The Chiefs’ front office recognizes shortcomings and quickly finds solutions.”
Noting how the Eagles exploited Kansas City’s porous offensive line, Jones recognized the Chiefs’ quick actions to keep Trey Smith, who would’ve been the most coveted offensive lineman on the free-agent market. Kansas City used its franchise tag to retain Smith, then signed a left tackle with limited sample size but big upside.
“The Chiefs made sure Trey Smith couldn’t get away, and they got a promising, young left tackle in Jaylon Moore while also restructuring Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones to make other depth signings possible.”
The depth signings included wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Hollywood Brown, running backs Kareem Hunt and Elijah Mitchell and quarterbacks Gardner Minshew and Bailey Zappe. On defense, the team added tackle Jerry Tillery and cornerback Kristian Fulton, both of whom are expected to start.
And for future depth, or possibly even a future starter, Brett Veach acquired a fourth-round pick in 2026 from the Bears for Pro Bowl guard Joe Thuney, who was entering the final year of his contract.
And after the quarterback of their offense restructured his deal, the Chiefs were able to focus on the quarterback of their defense, middle linebacker Nick Bolton. Kansas City kept him off the open market by
negotiating an extension on the eve of free agency.
Looking at the rest of the AFC West, Jones grouped the Chargers’ ownership in his second tier, “willing to do what it takes to win,” and the Las Vegas and Denver ownership groups two levels below as simply “content to compete.”