KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 2022 was a contract season for a number of Kansas City Chiefs players.
But now the Chiefs have several key names on their 2023 free agency list.
The most notable names are offensive tackle Orlando Brown, wide receivers Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back Jerick McKinnon.
Here is the full list of free agents.
- G Nick Allegretti
- TE Blake Bell
- OT Orlando Brown
- QB Shane Buechele
- FB Michael Burton
- S Deon Bush
- DE Carlos Dunlap
- TE Jody Fortson
- WR Mecole Hardman
- RB Ronald Jones II
- CB Chris Lammons
- RB Jerick McKinnon
- DT Derrick Nnadi
- DT Khalen Saunders
- WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
- S Juan Thornhill
- P Tommy Townsend
- OT Prince Tega Wanogho
- WR Justin Watson
- DT Tershawn Wharton
- OT Andrew Wylie
Both offensive tackles, multiple receivers/running backs/tight ends/defensive tackles make up most of these free agents.
The Chiefs have until March 7 to designate players with the franchise or transition tag.
A franchise-tagged player has his salary based on the top five salary cap hits at the position for the past five years; the transition tag uses the sum of the top 10 salary cap hits for the past five years. These are then divided by the total salary cap over those five years.
The team can replace most of these players with draft picks as well.
Here is the full list of draft picks so far.
- Round 1, Pick 32
- Round 2, Pick 64
- Round 3, Pick 96
- Round 4, Pick 123 (from MIA)
- Round 4, Pick 135
- Round 5, Pick 169
- Round 6, Pick 198 (from MIA)
- Round 7, Pick 228 (from ATL)
- Round 7, Pick 252
Compensatory draft picks will most likely add to the list of draft picks. These picks include the net loss of compensatory free agents or the hiring of a minority employee as the head coach or general manager with a different team.
Those picks are announced shortly before the start of the NFL year, which is on March 15.
The Chiefs are estimated to have about $11 million in cap room to start the year with the draft beginning on April 27 at Kansas City’s Union Station.
