Okay, got that out of my system. By now the Super Bowl victory by the Chiefs over the Eagles has been hashed out… thoroughly hashed out. I won’t be rehashing here. Besides, the way the NFL runs things there’s no time to sit around and savor the title… the Combine is just about here already!

Let’s get crackin’ on what lies immediately ahead for Kansas City.

To start… free agency. Oh yeah, and I’m not talking ‘bout the Chiefs opening the checkbook and bringing in top-shelf talent to defend this title. Nope! Chiefs’ GM Brett Veach has his work cut out for him and his club currently has an abundance of Un restricted Free Agents (UFA) to deal with.

I’ll start rattling them off; tell me when you had enough.

More? Okay…

RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s rookie deal is set to mature next season, but it's not looking as if Mr. Veach is excited about working on new paper for CEH.

Kansas City’s bank account is loaded, however, the cap space is shot to hell at this time, over cap by $473,578 (thank you Sportrac).

Yessiree Bob, it would appear the Chiefs will be reloading this off-season via the draft as it appears quite the steep climb to resign most in this UFA class. LT Orlando Brown fancies himself as an elite blindside protector for Patrick Mahomes. Brown’s play can be best described as competent, but I would never casually toss ‘elite’ in there. AS we know, elite LTs garner elite dollars and the Chiefs are just not in position to literally buy into what Brown is selling. WR Mecole Hardman looks like a goner with or without Kadarius Toney remaining at Arrowhead. Yep, Toney is no sure bet to hang around if he doesn’t play nice regarding his current contract status. Unsung and versatile Justin Watson is a possible re-sign, given his talents, willingness to do whatever the coaches point to and coming in at a value. Now, what to do about JuJu? Smith-Schuster played excitingly well… for 2 games. He was fair-at-best in most contests and invisible in others. I have to believe the ‘next’ Tyreek Hill can be had in this draft this year and would be a far better investment than plunking down much needed funds on a chain-moving, no-gas slot receiver. Remember, Cheetah came to the Chiefs in the 5^th round of the 2016 draft. RB Jerick McKinnon was essential to the Chiefs’ success in 2022. He’s a tough call and his return depends on how reasonable his demands might be. We can bet the house Ronald Jones won’t be back regardless of how reasonable he may be. Defense is going to takes a few hits as well. Juan Thornhill, Derrick Nnadi and Khalen Saunders won’t all be back and it is not out of the question that none of the 3 return. Thornhill had his best season as a pro, conveniently timed with a new deal in the wings. Saunders and Nnadi are both starting-type DTs who know their roles and do them quietly well. Hard to see bringing both back, especially when you chuck un UFA’s Carlos Dunlap and Brandon Williams also ready to sit at the table across from the GM.

You get the point… negative cap space + boatload of UFAs = back to the draft!

The Chiefs currently own the following picks:

Round 1, Pick #32

Round 2, Pick #64

Round 3, Pick #96

Round 4, Pick #123

Round 4, Pick #135

Round 5, Pick #169

Round 6, Pick #198

Round 6, Pick #218

Round 6, Pick #220

Round 7, Pick #228

Round 7, Pick #252

Round 7, Pick #258

That’s 12 picks. No doubt Mr. Veach and Coach Andy Reid will be navigating the draft, trading for position and even adding picks later this draft of future ones.

I’ll start digging into potential draft targets for Kansas City next Eye in the Sky Report. Let’s get this Combine in the books first, and me to the film room.

We’ll go from there.

Just checking.

End.