Ten days that shaped the KC Chiefs’ offseason and fostered that #RunItBack feeling
Ask a Chiefs fan to script an offseason wish list, and it might’ve been difficult to come up with something better than what the organization actually delivered this year.
Every couple of weeks, developments unfolded that only appeared to strengthen the Super Bowl champions. Bringing in new personnel, restructuring existing contracts and re-signing some key current players ... add it all up, and the Chiefs are once again a strong Super Bowl favorite, even with history stacked heavily against them.
No NFL team has repeated as Super Bowl champion since the 2004 New England Patriots.
And not everything went the Chiefs’ way this offseason. Three players opted out due to COVID-19, including the first draft selection in the NFL to make that call: rookie offensive lineman Lucas Niang. Also not playing this year are Super Bowl starters Damien Williams (running back) and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (offensive line).
Gone, too, is longtime punter and fan favorite Dustin Colquitt.
But the Chiefs undoubtedly fortified their roster for 2020. Here are 10 days that shaped their offseason trajectory:
March 21: Adding O-lineman Remmers and corner Hamilton
The new NFL year officially began March 18 with the opening of free agency. The Chiefs were going to lose some contributors and eventually did: Super Bowl starters cornerback Kendall Fuller and guard Stefan Wiesniewski.
Their first two free-agent signees, with the Chiefs shopping from the New York Giants’ catalog, addressed both positions.
Remmers started 14 games a right tackle last season with the Giants and played 14 games at right guard for the Vikings in 2018.
Hamilton made the first two starts of his four-year NFL career last season for the Giants. The Chiefs not only lost Fuller, but Bashaud Breeland will open the season with a four-game league-imposed suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
March 30: Chiefs re-sign Demarcus Robinson
This wasn’t a splashy moment — Robinson was the team’s fourth-leading receiver in 2019 — but it was a revealing one. The Chiefs made their first move to bring back the band that won the Super Bowl by signing Robinson to a one-year, $2.3 million team-friendly deal.
A #RunItBack hashtag appeared in a Patrick Mahomes tweet supporting the move shortly after the contract was announced.
“Demarcus could be a starter anywhere in the National Football League,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We try to keep ourselves in a position where potentially we can throw fastballs at you with a rotation, and we’re lucky right now to have the guys to be able to that. The quarterback has trust him in.”
April 3: Restructuring Sammy Watkins’ deal
A few days after word leaked about the Chiefs’ paltry $177 of available space under the NFL salary cap, a mini-panic ensued: How were the Chiefs going to get everyone signed?
Watkins desired to remain in KC ... and the Chiefs wanted him, too, but not at a $21 million cap hit. The sides agreed on an incentive-laden deal paying Watkins at a $9 million price tag, and now the team could begin making things work financially with other players.
“What we did, winning the Super Bowl, the type of team and coaches we have, the organization, why wouldn’t I stay?” Watkins said. “This is my happy place.”
April 23: Chiefs draft Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Wait. What? When the virtually conducted NFL Draft arrived, the Chiefs seemed to be in need of defense, especially in the secondary.
So which way did they go with the final selection of the first round, their top pick? Offense. Running back. And not even the best one available, according to many draft experts.
That’s right: With the 32nd pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected ... Clyde Edwards-Helaire, running back, LSU.
Four months later, their first-round selection of the physical route-runner is considered one of the steals of the draft.
“We viewed him as an extraordinary running back and a rare talent,” general manager Brett Veach said.
Veach said he told coach Andy Reid that the LSU back would remind him of a player he coached in Philadelphia: Bryant Westbrook, an All-Pro selection with the Eagles during Reid’s years in Philly.
“Coach called me back and said, “He’s better than Brian,’” Veach said.
April 26: Undrafted free-agent punter signed
It pained the Chiefs to part with their most veteran player, Dustin Colquitt. But they got younger and cheaper at the position with Tommy Townsend, who announced his own signing on social media. Colquitt used the same channels to announce he had been released.
The move was stunning initially, even to Colquitt, who wrote on his Instagram account “…all things come to an end, sometimes sooner than you hoped, prayed & pleaded for them to.”
The Chiefs freed up $2 million in salary cap space with the move. Townsend, who averaged 44.8 yards per punt at Florida, played to solid reviews in training camp. Holding for kicker Harrison Butker will be another big part of his duties.
“We had a draftable grade on him,” special teams coach Dave Toub said. “So he was a guy that we went after real strong. … He gets the ball off quick, he’s athletic. He’s everything you’re looking for.”
May 2: Chiefs sign Taco Charlton
The Chiefs have gone down this road before, managing to get production out of some low-risk, high-ceiling players when other teams couldn’t. Linebacker Reggie Ragland and offensive lineman Cam Erving come to mind.
Charlton was a first-round pick (No. 28) overall by the Cowboys in 2017 and was released by the Dolphins after last season. He fits the physical profile of the sort of defensive end favored by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, is a former college teammate of Frank Clark’s and wants to be in Kansas City.
Check, check and check.
“Once I (cleared waivers), I was on the phone with Frank,” Charlton said. “I just wanted to go to a good situation and add myself to a good defense.”
July 6: Chiefs extend Patrick Mahomes
The Patrick Mahomes’ contract speculation started sometime during his league MVP season of 2018 and reached tsunami status after he led the Chiefs back from a 10-point deficit with three touchdowns in the final 6 1/2 minutes of Super Bowl LIV.
Would he become the NFL’s first $200 million player? Could he average $40 million annually? Would the Mahomes camp consider something as lengthy as six years?
In this case, none of that guesswork was wild enough.
The numbers announced were breathtaking and made most Chiefs fans ecstatic: a 10-year extension on the final two years of Mahomes’ rookie deal that could be worth up to $503 million. The most lucrative deal in sports history keeps Mahomes in Kansas City through 2031.
Swoon.
Reaction poured in across the sports world. Mahomes received congratulations from LeBron James, Magic Johnson and many other luminaries.
But the most important vibe for the team might have been the one delivered by defensive tackle Chris Jones. No one outside the team’s front office and Jones’ own camp knew the status of their negotiations, and for a while it seemed unlikely the Chiefs would be able to conduct big business with both Mahomes and Jones.
When the Chiefs and Mahomes got a deal done, Jones offered this salute: “QB1 congrats my guy, well deserved to say the least.”
Soon we’d know that Mahomes could return the favor by extending his congratulations back to No. 95.
July 15: Chiefs announce signing of Chris Jones
A handful of heart-and-soul players have emerged in KC over the past few seasons. Chris Jones stands prominently among them.
He’s perhaps the game’s top interior defensive lineman in the non-Aaron Donald category since shifting inside in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Jones set an NFL record in 2018 with sacks in 11 straight games and in last year’s Super Bowl he knocked down three Jimmy Garoppolo passes in the fourth quarter.
But would the Chiefs, who had applied the franchise tag on Jones in March, be able to meet his desire for a long-term contract?
In the end, player and team got it done. As the deadline approached, the news broke: Jones and the Chiefs had agreed to a four-year, $85 million contract with $60 million in guaranteed bonuses.
The friendly terms of Mahomes’ contract helped the Chiefs gain financial flexibility to make their deal with Jones work, too.
“Chris is, for being as massive as he is, he’s got as good a get-off as anybody,” Chiefs tackle Mitchell Schwartz said. “I mean, Aaron Donald is crazy-quick too, but for Chris to be doing it at however much he weighs (310 listed), it’s insane. It’s not really fair.”
July 29: Chiefs sign Kelechi Osemele
The Chiefs moved quickly after losing Duvernay-Tardif, who received his medical degree in 2018 and elected to opt out this season in order to spend time working with doctors who are fighting the pandemic.
They signed Kelechi Osemele, an All-Pro selection in 2016, to a one-year deal. So the Chiefs have options at guard.
Andrew Wylie took over for Duvernay-Tardif when he was injured in 2018. Last year, Wylie was a healthy scratch for the postseason, but he has started on both sides of the line. And 2019 draft choice Nick Allegretti is another candidate to see snaps this fall.
But Osemele could figure in most prominently, and right away.
“I’m a big fan of (Osemele), just watching him play,” Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck said. “He’s a very physical football player. ... (H)e’s a guy who loves the game. That’s infectious, and it’s great for our group. He’s fitting in terrifically.”
August 13: Chiefs extend Travis Kelce
With a four-year contract extension worth about $58 million that will keep him here through 2025, Kelce could hardly contain himself in his first public comments since signing on the dotted line.
Maybe it didn’t rise to the “Fight for Your Right to Party!” enthusiasm he showed at the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl parade, but it sounded heartfelt just the same.
“It’s a beautiful thing, and you know what? This community, Kansas City, I love you and I’m thankful that I’m going to be here for the next six years,” Kelce said.
A critical component of the offense, Kelce became the first tight end in NFL history to record four straight 1,000-yard seasons. He caught three touchdown passes in the second quarter of KC’s AFC playoff game against the Texans, and his touchdown grab in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl was the first of three straight touchdowns that reversed the Chiefs’ deficit and made them champions.
“He brings the energy every day,” Reid said.
Bonus: July 28: Mahomes buys into Royals’ ownership group
No impact on the Chiefs’ roster here, but what a major moment for the Kansas City sports scene. Mahomes’ first major splash after landing his mega deal was purchasing a minority stake in the team across the parking lot — the Royals — who are playing their first season under new majority Royals owner John Sherman.
“They were able to let me join in with them and be part of something that’s going to be long-term,” Mahomes said.
Said Reid: “You know how he’s wired. He’s all-in with the city.”