Chiefs Bring Back Lineman Who Could Replace Joe Thuney

Little did he know it at the time but Mike Caliendo’s late-season starts at left guard may have served as his audition for the full-time role in 2025. Caliendo, who enters his third season with the Chiefs, signed his exclusive-rights tender on Monday.

After the Super Bowl, Kansas City traded three-time Pro Bowler Joe Thuney to Chicago and left a big void at left guard. Prior to that, the Chiefs employed a turnstile of starting left tackles – Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris, D.J. Humphries and finally Thuney. That motley quartet was responsible for the majority of Patrick Mahomes’ 36 sacks, a career high.

Suamataia could move inside to compete with Caliendo for the starting role at left guard. The Chiefs’ second-round selection in last year’s draft, Suamataia started the first two games at left tackle in 2024 before Kansas City benched him.

Caliendo played well over his first three NFL starts – wins over Cleveland, Houston and Pittsburgh in Weeks 15-17, and could have a leg up as Kansas City’s starter entering the spring. Caliendo also started at left guard in all three postseason contests, including Super Bowl LIX.

The Chiefs signed unrestricted free agent Jaylon Moore from San Francisco to fill the void at left tackle, despite only 12 career starts in four seasons. And how Kansas City handles the left side of its offensive line is a major question mark this offseason.

Ironically, Moore played alongside Caliendo at Western Michigan and told reporters last week he was excited to rejoin his college teammate.

“Oh, yeah. Mike, that's my guy,” Moore said Thursday in his first comments since joining the Chiefs. “We went into Western Michigan together, same class. Spent a lot of our time together, so Mike Caliendo, that's my brother.”

After a Covid-shortened 2020 season, Moore entered the NFL as San Francisco’s sixth-round selection in the 2021 draft. Caliendo, who redshirted as a true freshman in 2017, stayed at Western Michigan through the 2021 campaign, then signed with Kansas City as a non-drafted free agent in 2022.

Released by the Chiefs at the end of camp, Caliendo spent his rookie season on the Chiefs’ practice squad before re-signing with the team in 2023. He played in eight games that year, then saw action in all 17 last season, including the three starts at left guard with Thuney shifted over to left tackle.

In the Chiefs’ Week 11 loss at Buffalo last season, Caliendo saw four snaps in the Chiefs’ jumbo formation as an eligible extra lineman. In the first quarter, he caught a 5-yard pass from Mahomes to convert a third-and-short.