The Kansas City Chiefs made the difficult decision of trading star wide receiver Tyreek Hill earlier this week. Hill is heading to the Miami Dolphins, where he will become the highest-paid WR in NFL history, breaking the mark that Davante Adams recently set with the Las Vegas Raiders.
While losing Hill will hurt the explosiveness of the offense, as long as Patrick Mahomes is under center, the team should be able to produce just fine on that side of the ball. They will certainly need to, as the AFC West is absolutely loaded.
You know you are in a tough division when the worst quarterback you will be going up against is likely Derek Carr. Russell Wilson will now be leading the Denver Broncos while the Los Angeles Chargers have wunderkind Justin Herbert leading the way.
All three teams are loaded offensively, but they aren’t slouches on defense either. The Raiders added Chandler Jones to bookend Maxx Crosby as a pass rusher. The Broncos have Bradley Chubb with star safety Justin Simmons and soon-to-be star Patrick Surtain II at cornerback. The Chargers will have Joey Bosa joined by Khalil Mack rushing the passer with J.C. Jackson now leading the secondary.
The Chiefs should be able to keep up offensively with Mahomes running the show, but they do not have those kinds of impact defenders on defense right now. If the team is going to make a big swing in the second wave of free agency, it will likely come on that side of the ball.
Over at The Athletic, a paid-subscription website, they believe Kansas City will land that difference-maker. They are predicting that the Chiefs will sign Jadevon Clowney to bolster their defensive front.
Adding Clowney to Chris Jones would certainly help a pass rush that needs a boost based on their 2021 production. Clowney had nine sacks with 19 quarterback hits for the Cleveland Browns last season and could cause some havoc paired with Jones.
Clowney is as good as it gets when setting the edge as well as a stout run defender. That kind of diverse skill set and the versatility to line up anywhere in the alignment will give the Chiefs a much-needed weapon defensively, especially with Tyrann Mathieu looking like he will be on the move.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft has almost become a pass rusher for hire, as the Chiefs would be his fifth team in five seasons. But, they would certainly be happy to have him and Clowney should earn himself a solid payday based on his production from last season.
