The Kansas City Chiefs are, once again, in an interesting situation with their roster.
After concocting a Super Bowl-winning team in 2019, Brett Veach faces the difficult task of assembling a team to defend the title. He’d like to keep as many players from the Chiefs’ championship team as possible, but the reality of the situation is that they’ll lose some quality players.
Teams can set themselves up for both long term and short term success by acquiring bridge players. These are typically veteran players that are closer to the end of their careers than they are the beginning. Signing these players will allow newer players the luxury of developing at their own pace.
We saw the Chiefs grab a few of these players ahead of and during the 2019 season. Guys like CB Morris Claiborne, RB LeSean McCoy, OL Stefen Wisniewski and LB Terrell Suggs come to mind. These plug and play options can bridge roster gaps while those young players get their feet under them in the NFL. The best thing is they won’t cost a lot either.
Here are three players who the Chiefs should consider to bridge various gaps on their roster while they wait for younger players to develop:
CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
Kansas City will likely look to add help at the cornerback spot through the draft and free agency with multiple departures expected. They should invest in the draft, but you need to grab more than one guy at this spot with only four under contract for the 2020 season. I anticipate some sort of veteran signing to happen.
Rodgers-Cromartie abruptly retired during the middle of the 2018 season and returned to the NFL in 2019. He signed a one-year deal with the Washington Redskins. He only made it two games into the season before landing on injured reserve. So why would the Chiefs want DRC?
DRC had some of his best production in his career playing for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and DB coach Dave Merritt with the New York Giants. In 24 games he had 107 total tackles, nine interceptions, 34 passes defended, three forced fumbles, a sack, and a touchdown. It’s worth kicking the tires on this player to see if the 33-year-old anything left in the tank. At the very least he’ll push and motivate some younger players on the roster.
WR Dez Bryant
There’s been plenty of talk surrounding Bryant this offseason even though his last NFL snap came in December of 2017. He tried to play with Saints in 2018 but blew out his Achilles before the season began. He’s been mounting a comeback tour for the past two seasons, rehabbing and waiting for the right opportunity. Many have recently pointed to the Chiefs as the perfect destination for his NFL return.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was throwing with Bryant this offseason at APEC’s facilities in Fort Worth. It just so happens that Bryant is also Mahomes’ favorite player. Don’t expect the Super Bowl MVP to get in the way of Brett Veach making a decision, though.
“[Dez Bryant is] obviously a very talented player, someone I watched as a little kid growing up,” Mahomes recently told Yahoo Sports’ Terez Paylor. “But I leave stuff like that to [general manager Brett] Veach and let him make the decisions. Obviously, [Veach] lets me know some of the stuff he’s doing here and there, but I’m blessed to be with a great organization [with] a great general manager, a great head coach and great people around them.”
Luckily for Mahomes, the Chiefs could find a use for a big and physical receiver like Bryant. Especially if they’re forced to cut or trade Sammy Watkins to create some salary-cap space.
RB Frank Gore
If you added these three players circa 2014, it’d be an entirely different story.
Gore is preparing to play for a 16th NFL season. He started eight games for the Bills in 2019 and played in all 16 games. He carried the ball 166 times for nearly 600 yards and two touchdowns. Those are comparable numbers to what LeSean McCoy had in a timeshare with Damien Williams for the Chiefs in 2019.
At 36 years old, Gore sits at third all-time in NFL history with 15,347 career rushing yards. He passed the great Barry Sanders this year for No. 3 spot. He needs over 1,300 yards to pass Walter Peyton for No. 2 and over 3,000 yards to pass Emmitt Smith for the top spot. He clearly has his eyes set on some of those goals and what better place to attempt to reach them than with the defending Super Bowl champions.
The Chiefs could bring Gore to town on a one-year contract. He could be someone they bring in late in the offseason, just as they did with McCoy. Perhaps Kansas City will become the place where all-time great running backs come to get a Super Bowl ring.
