The Chiefs had planned to move career right tackle Jawaan Taylor to the left side. Instead, they are flipping their tackle salary structure. Donovan Smith is now in the fold, and Taylor is now the NFL’s second-highest-paid right tackle.
Andy Reid confirmed (via ESPN’s Adam Teicher) the Chiefs will begin their offseason work with Smith, signed to a one-year deal worth up to $9M late last week, at left tackle and Taylor on the right side.
Considering Smith has only played left tackle as a pro and Taylor spending his entire Jacksonville tenure as a right-sider, it is logical the Chiefs will not rock the boat here.
This is an about-face given the Chiefs’ initial Taylor plan, and while it is interesting the defending champions are abandoning it months before pads come on, Reid did leave the door open last month for Taylor to be kicked back to the right side. A right tackle at Florida and with the Jags, Taylor represents an upgrade for the Chiefs at that post.
Smith will replace Orlando Brown Jr. While the latter earned back-to-back Pro Bowl nods with the Chiefs, Smith manned the Buccaneers’ blindside spot for eight seasons.
During an offseason in which the team needed to shed almost $60M in cap space, Tampa Bay made Smith a cap casualty in early March. The 30-year-old blocker resided as one of the few players left unsigned among PFR’s top 50 free agents.
Kansas City making right tackle its top O-line investment deviates from recent years, when the team used low-cost vet Andrew Wylie and third-round pick Lucas Niang as its primary options at the position. But the Chiefs’ initial Patrick Mahomes Super Bowl-winning team did have two tackles — Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz — signed to veteran deals.
While the team prioritized Brown in 2021 via the trade with the Ravens, right tackle did not bring similar attention. The Smith signing changes that, as Taylor signed the top O-line deal — AAV-wise, at $20M — in free agency.
Elsewhere on the Chiefs’ roster, Reid confirmed running back Isiah Pacheco and first-round defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah are recovering from surgeries.
Pacheco underwent procedures to repair a broken hand and a torn labrum, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. He does not have a return timetable, though the Chiefs do not sound concerned the 2022 seventh-round pick will miss regular-season time.
Anudike-Uzomah, this year’s No. 31 overall pick, underwent thumb surgery before the draft and could be ready by the time the Chiefs begin OTAs later this month.
At receiver, the Chiefs had Mahomes work out with a few rookie prospects. Zay Flowers and Quentin Johnston were among those to train with the reigning MVP in Texas.
But Chiefs second-round pick Rashee Rice also linked up with Mahomes for a pre-draft training session. The SMU product, whom the Chiefs took in the second round, formed a connection with the superstar quarterback, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes.
The Chiefs have now taken a second-round receiver in each of the past two drafts, with Rice following Skyy Moore. These two join Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Kadarius Toney as the Chiefs’ top receivers.
Kansas City has been connected to a DeAndre Hopkins pursuit, but the Cardinals may now be prepared to keep him. The Chiefs, who lost J.J. Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman to the AFC East in free agency, are also preparing to give Toney — his injury past notwithstanding — a bigger role heading into his first full K.C. season.
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