The Kansas City Chiefs front office is already making the tough decisions to reshape their Super Bow-winning roster for next season. The team has already parted ways with a veteran edge rusher and is now trying to adjust its offensive line depth.
Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with former NFL executives Mike Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman to get their thoughts on the Chiefs’ free agency and 2023 NFL draft plans. The executives spoke on behalf of The 33rd Team and assessed the decision not to offer the franchise tag to Orlando Brown Jr. for a second consecutive year. Spielman also provided some insight on where Kansas City might turn in the first round of the draft.
“In my opinion, just because it was going to be the second time they tagged Orlando Brown,” said Spielman. “So I know that would have been 120% more than he was making from the previous tag. So that can get a little dicey when you’re looking at it from the front office standpoint, do you want to put that much money into one player for just one more year? So I think that they’re going to let him go out and shop the market to see what his true value is; I think they will stay in the game with that, you know, just looking.
“I know, from a draft standpoint, that they’re definitely going (to look because) Andrew Wylie is up as well. So I think offensive tackle is going to be a huge need for them. I think where they’re picking, which is at the bottom of the first round, you may be able to get one of those tackles like a Dawand Jones. I don’t know (about) Darnell Wright, the way he has performed over the combine and how he can seems to continue to spiral upward since the season and since going through the Senior Bowl.”
Spielman was most recently the general manager for the Minnesota Vikings from 2012-2021, with other stops including the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and Miami Dolphins during the course of his career. He also weighed in on the Chiefs moving on from Frank Clark and their needs at edge rusher in the 2023 NFL draft.
“I think they also need some edge pass rushers too,” said Spielman. “They let Frank Clark go; they may monitor that situation, as well. I believe (Carlos) Dunlap is up as an unrestricted free agent. So when you see a guy like Nolan Smith perform like he did at the combine. A Keion White, another kid out of Georgia Tech that I think had a really good Senior Bowl. I don’t think he worked out or ran at the combine. But he’s got that physical stature that I think Steve (Spagnuolo), Andy (Reid), and I think Brett Veach all look for because I think he could be an edge guy, but also give him some rush inside as a potential nickel rusher.”
The Chiefs will need to make decisions quickly as the free agency period will bring about changes immediately that can help or hinder their chances to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
