Day one of the NFL Free Agency tampering period was absolutely wild for the AFC West, and frankly, nobody should have expected anything different. Although the division, as a whole, was a massive disappointment in 2022 compared to expectations, the Kansas City Chiefs were the Super Bowl champions. Everyone else is just trying to keep up.
Shocking moves have really just become the norm for this division. The Raiders have moved on from Derek Carr. The Broncos are spending their new Walmart money after trading for head coach Sean Payton. The Chargers replaced their OC (who is also now in Denver) and may soon be trading Austin Ekeler. The Chiefs made another bold move at offensive tackle.
Where do things stand in the AFC West after the first day of the NFL Free Agency tampering period?
Updated AFC West power rankings during Free Agency Frenzy
1. Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs’ offseason started with a bang when offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy left to go to the Washington Commanders. Since that move, we’ve now seen others from the Chiefs join Bieniemy in the nation’s capital, including offensive tackle Andrew Wylie.
The Chiefs not only let Wylie walk in free agency, but also last year’s franchise player and the team’s left tackle, Orlando Brown Jr.
Brown is being replaced by the Chiefs’ big-money acquisition on Day 1 of the tampering period, former Jaguars offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor. Taylor has been Jacksonville’s right tackle the last four years and now becomes the left tackle of the Chiefs, a position he’s never played in the NFL on a full-time basis.
That shouldn’t be a big deal for the Chiefs, who have the infrastructure in place to make it work. Taylor gets $80 million over four years from the Chiefs along with $60 million in guarantees. General manager Brett Veach is obviously extremely confident this is going to work out and it’s hard to blame him.
We’ll see what happens with the rest of the KC offseason as the Chiefs need to make moves at receivers and on the defensive front, but for now, the Jawaan Taylor deal looks like one of the best and boldest in free agency.