Arguably the Chiefs greatest free agent signing in franchise history is set to hit the open market for the first time in three years. For months all we have heard on the situation is that it is going to “take time” to figure out a contract because of the cap situation. This made sense for a while until free agency started and the badger still has not received a contract offer from the Chiefs.
Fast forward a few days and the Chiefs sign what looks like his long term replacement in Justin Reid who is only 25 years old. The question being asked now is “why?” There is much speculation about why the Chiefs wouldn’t resign one of its defensive leaders, but the one that seems to be the most obvious is that the Chiefs are making major changes on the defensive side of the ball which includes getting younger and cheaper. Reid’s new contract has a cap hit of only 4 million for the 2022 season which could be a major reason the Chiefs decided to go in another direction. Still it is yet to be seen if replacing veteran leaders such as Anthony Hitchens and Mathieu with talented youth is going to pay off.
As of now Mathieu is still unsigned and although a longshot, the Chiefs are still not out of the running to re-sign Tyrann which would create one of the best safety rooms in the league. However it seems more likely that he will end up signing with one of the other teams interested in his talents which include the Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, and the less likely New York Jets. This certainly would put the Chiefs in an odd situation heading into late March with little depth behind third year corner L’jarius Sneed and newly acquired Justin Reid. Free agency is far from over but as time goes on it becomes more likely that Brett Veach will look towards the draft to add talent in these positions.
As the kingdom becomes restless watching the rest of the AFC west stack up on talent it will be interesting to see what decisions will be made not only on the defensive side of the ball but also adding running back depth and finding the greatly coveted second option at wide receiver.
As Tyrann’s departure becomes more and more likely, a new era on defense will start and changes will have to be made in order to prevent another start like we saw in 2021. As always, we trust in the roster sculpting skills of Brett Veach, but all of Chiefs Kingdom will miss watching 32 in red and gold on Sundays if it does come to that. 
