Rebuilding the Kansas City Chiefs on the fly seems much easier said than done. General manager Brett Veach has his work cut out for him this offseason, and that’s likely true on multiple fronts.
The 2026 NFL Draft and free agency alike present obstacles for Veach and company. The latter requires Kansas City to not only add to what it already has, but also replace what’s potentially leaving.
A recent ranking of the top free agents (to be) made that challenge even clearer.
3 Chiefs Listed in Top 25 of PFF’s Best Free Agents List
In a February 2 story, the Pro Football Focus staff ranked the top 250 players projected to hit the open market. Three Chiefs — linebacker Leo Chenal, safety Bryan Cook and cornerback Jaylen Watson — were among the 25 highest-ranked.
Chenal, described as offering “developmental upside” and being a versatile chess piece, is projected to earn a two-year contract worth $12 million. The 2022 third-round pick logged 58 tackles and 2 sacks in the regular season. Lining up in a multitude of places for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, he’s a fun supporting pillar.
Cook, picked one round before Chenal, carried a “secret superstar” moniker recently. The former Cincinnati safety boasts a three-year, $36M projection from PFF. On top of setting a career-high mark with 85 regular-season tackles, Cook had 6 pass breakups and played in all 17 games. He’s a proficient coverage player while also being a sound tackler.
Watson checks in at 21st on the list and has a three-year, $45M contract projection. A seventh-round pick in 2022, he’s provided surplus value to the Chiefs. A lengthy, physical coverage player, he surrendered just a 79.0 passer rating when targeted in 2025-26. That, paired with quality run support, makes him a difficult potential loss. The uncertain future of fellow cornerback Trent McDuffie doesn’t help matters, either.
With all three set to enter free agency when the new league year begins in March, Veach could be losing a trio of impactful contributors. Given the hoops Kansas City must jump through to get out of negative cap space, retaining all three simply isn’t realistic.
7 Other Kansas City Players Populate Rest of Top 250
The Chiefs had many others join the Chenal, Cook and Watson group in PFF’s rankings.
On the offensive side of the ball, tight end Travis Kelce (77th) was next-highest on the list. The future Hall of Fame man turned back the clock a bit after a rough 2024, hauling in 76 passes for 851 yards and 5 touchdowns. Regardless of whether he hits free agency as someone who wants to play next season, it’s hard to envision him doing so for anyone other than the Chiefs.
Elsewhere on offense, running back Isiah Pacheco (120th), wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (128th), halfback Kareem Hunt (135th) and wideout Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (148th) were given tips of the cap. Pacheco declined in the past couple of seasons following a productive 2023, but Hunt helped pick up a bit of that slack.
Brown finished second on the team in receiving yards (587) and touchdowns (5) this year. Where his market winds up is certainly worth monitoring. He’d be a nice low-cost re-signing, if possible. Thornton is the X-factor here; he averaged 23.1 yards per catch and had a career resurgence on limited snaps in 2025.
Defensively, two players helped round things out. Cornerback Joshua Williams (84th) and defensive lineman Charles Omenihu (212th) were included. Williams was relegated to a special teams role and Omenihu failed to bounce back after a torn ACL. It’s likely that both possess suppressed markets; neither will cost a team a fortune.
It’s a mixed bag of free agents, to say the least. Kansas City can afford to let some of the second group move on. Replacing the production of the top three-to-four, though, is a serious undertaking.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Free Agent Rankings Underscore Chiefs’ Degree of Difficulty This Offseason appeared first on Heavy Sports.