Kansas City Chiefs: Mike DeVito an easy insurance policy

The Kansas City Chiefs have some of the best players in the business set to hit the free agent market, but one of their more underrated options, Mike DeVito, could be an attractive starting option for other teams.

I see the Kansas City Chiefs most likely first-round pick coming on either the offensive line or the defensive line, because they have two starting-caliber defensive linemen set to hit the open market in Jaye Howard and Mike DeVito. Howard could be seen as an excellent consolation prize for the team that fails to nab Malik Jackson, since he seems more likely to hit the free agent waters than not, while DeVito is the type of cheap, veteran run-stuffer most teams running a three-man front would like to scoop up.

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The same reasons DeVito would be a quality option to a team in free agency are the same reasons why the Chiefs would prefer to keep him around for another year or two. In fact, the Kansas City Star’s Terez A. Paylor reports that the front office has shown interest in re-signing him.

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Now, I’m not going to sit here and argue that the Chiefs should led DeVito walk away if he’s willing to take a cheap enough contract, but there’s no point in arguing in support of that either, since it’s such an obvious stance. Instead, my belief is that the Chiefs don’t need to seriously negotiate with DeVito, but he would be great veteran insurance in case Howard walks and their Day 1 or 2 3-4 DE doesn’t make an immediate impact.

At this point, it’s hard to see Howard returning to the Chiefs with players like Eric Berry, Sean Smith, and Tamba Hali also set to hit free agency. I don’t want to take anything away from Howard, who deserves a big contract after doing the dirty work as the Chiefs most underrated defensive player, but the previous three players are all more important and play marquee positions on this elite Kansas City defense.

Howard isn’t expendable, but he doesn’t seem like a must-keep either. Since DeVito is both older and less effective than Howard, the same can be said about the former New York Jet to an even greater extent, and the Chiefs could just as easily hold onto the “every penny counts” mantra firmly here and take a particularly hard-line stance with DeVito in negotiations.

Throughout his career, DeVito has been one of the better run-stuffing defensive linemen, but those players aren’t hard to find or held in high regard around the league. In fact, I would argue that the Chiefs have three better DLs (Howard, Dontari Poe, and Allen Bailey) on their squad right now.

Moreover, the 2016 draft provides the Chiefs with a perfect opportunity to pluck young talent at the position, and there are more explosive, multi-dimensional players just waiting to be drafted. Sheldon Rankins is a dream pick, but Vernon Butler could also make plenty of sense in the first round. Alabama product Jarran Reed could make sense, too, if the Chiefs are interested in bringing in some more run defending beef at DE, since their run defense has been considerably weaker than their pass D over the past two seasons.

There are also worthy second and third-round defensive line options for Kansas City, and I’m sure they would love for Jihad Ward or Jonathan Bullard to fall to them in the second.

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Re-signing DeVito to a dirt cheap deal would be nice, and he shouldn’t command much money as a soon-to-be 32-year-old who makes his living off of stopping the run. He could help ease a Howard-to-youngster transition, but the Chiefs have established talent and might not feel the need for a stopgap if they spend a high enough pick on a defensive lineman (think of a player of Rankins’s or Butler’s quality).