Fresh off of a Super Bowl LVII win, the Kansas City Chiefs have over a dozen players slated for unrestricted free agency. They’ll look to retain as many pieces as possible from their championship-winning squad, but according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, that might not be so easy.
Fowler recently reported on all the latest free agency buzz from the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, naming to players that he expects the Chiefs will have a hard time keeping.
Check it out:
The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will have a difficult time keeping several free agents. They are bracing to lose receiver Mecole Hardman, who should have a sneaky-good market despite playing just eight games last season. Some teams believe he will hit a pretty good number on a per-year average. Safety Juan Thornhill should also do very well. Some teams are looking at him as the No. 2 safety, a viable option for those who can’t afford Jessie Bates III.
Both Hardman and Thornhill were selected by Kansas City in the 2019 NFL draft and have been contributors ever since. They both share a commonality as they enter unrestricted free agency — they’re young and talented players at position groups that are considered to be weaker in both free agency and the draft.
Next two weeks is gonna be real exciting.
— The_Juan_And_Only (@Juan_Thornhill) March 5, 2023
Hardman was always going to be valued for his elite speed and acceleration, so it’s no surprise to hear that he’ll have a “sneaky-good market.” However, hearing that Thornhill could be viewed as the No. 2 safety in this free agent class is telling. The Chiefs are going to have a tough time keeping all these ancillary free agents, especially when they’re honed in on figuring out what to do with players like Orlando Brown Jr. and JuJu Smith-Schuster, who are also slated to become free agents at the start of the new league year.
