The Kansas City Chiefs have 18 players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents this offseason. Several of those players are new to the team during the 2019 season. While the Chiefs won’t have a whole lot of money to play with in free agency this season, they should look to bring back a few standout performers.
Here’s a look at four players that I think the Kansas City front office should consider re-signing:
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
One of the biggest surprises for the Chiefs this season was edge rusher Emmanuel Ogbah. He came over to the Chiefs in a trade from the Browns for safety Eric Murray and no one really expected much. Quickly, Ogbah established himself as one of the Chiefs’ best pass rushers.
Before tearing his right pectoral muscle, Ogbah was the Chiefs’ sack leader with 5.5 sacks. He also was stout against the run, leading all Chiefs defenders in run-stop percentage when he was injured according to PFF. Keep in mind he did all of this with only four starts over the course of ten games.
The only saving grace about Ogbah’s torn pectoral muscle is that it might lower his asking price in free agency. If the Chiefs can convince Ogbah to come back and play in this system, on a one-year team-friendly contract, that could be a win-win situation. Ogbah gets to thrive in the Chiefs defense once again ahead of a big payday and the Chiefs get a productive player back for another year.
QB Matt Moore
Andy Reid is the only head coach in existence that can take a quarterback who was retired for a year and turn him into a guy that feels like a crucial component of a football team. Who would have thought that Matt Moore could come in and play 2.75 games for the Chiefs in 2019 and do so well? He completed 65% of his passes for 659 yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions. That’s a great stretch from a backup quarterback if I’ve ever seen one.
Losing Moore to free agency would be disappointing. The main reason I think you re-sign a guy like Moore is that with his 1-1 record as a starter, he now has a team and a fanbase that believes in him. That confidence can go a long way if he’s thrust into action in a key situation.
Moore makes sense for Reid given his tendency to have a young QB and a veteran as starter and backup or vice versa. It doesn’t seem likely that he’d go out and sign with another team next season, but the Chiefs should still lock him up just to be sure.
OL Stefen Wisniewski
Veteran offensive linemen typically don’t come cheap and they’re also hard to find in the middle of the season. It was a blessing for the Chiefs to find Wisniewski given how beat up the offensive line has been this season. He’s been a steady hand that the Chiefs can plug and play anywhere on the offensive interior.
Wisniewski hasn’t yet had a chance to start, but he’s done a really good job filling in. When he filled in for an injured Martinas Rankin, he had a really good day in pass protection. In his 64 offensive snaps with the Chiefs, he’s allowed no sacks. He’s also been a great guy in the locker room from what I’ve heard.
The Chiefs aren’t set to lose many offensive linemen this season, but if you find a way to lock up a guy like Wisniewski it gives you some flexibility. If you want to cut a player to clear some cap space or let a restricted free agent go, you’ll be able to do that and feel more comfortable about it.
DT Mike Pennel
The Chiefs Kingdom nearly threw a tantrum when Pennel was made inactive for the Tennesse Titans game in Week 10. Even with only 20 snaps the prior week, his impact was noticeable, specifically in the run game. Having him inactive against a team that has one massive offensive weapon at running back was a fatal error in strategy.
When Pennel was made gameday active for Week 11, again his impact was noticeable on limited snaps. He played in just 23 snaps but was massively disruptive against the run and the pass. He accounted for three tackles, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and one sack on the day.
For a player that is making less than a million, the Chiefs can certainly afford to fork out an extension. If they extend him before the season ends they might even be able to get a discount.
