Did the Chiefs just make a massive mistake in NFL Free Agency?

The Kansas City Chiefs have made a couple of huge splash moves in 2023 NFL free agency, starting with agreeing to a four-year deal with offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor in the early stages of the negotiating period. But was that the right move? Did the Chiefs make a huge mistake?

Not by signing Taylor, but by letting Orlando Brown Jr. walk in free agency. The Chiefs are apparently going to make Jawaan Taylor, the starting right tackle of the Jaguars, their new left tackle. They obviously bought into Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle once upon a time but at least at that time, there was some more proof of concept of him playing on that left side.

Jawaan Taylor hasn’t really played left tackle much at all, and Tristan Wirfs of the Buccaneers once infamously described the difference of playing right and left tackle as the difference of wiping yourself with the other hand. As hilarious as that example is, it certainly paints the picture that the transition from one side to the other is not always simple.

But, in the Chiefs we trust, right?

The real mistake the Chiefs made letting Orlando Brown Jr. walk

The mistake by the Chiefs with this whole Orlando Brown Jr. situation was not believing they could make Jawaan Taylor a great left tackle after he’s played almost his whole NFL career on the right side. The true mistake in letting Orlando Brown Jr. walk is the fact that the Chiefs — inadvertently — made one of their biggest rivals in the AFC better.

Brown signed a four-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals to fortify an offensive line that has given them fits for the last handful of years. Although the Chiefs replaced Brown with another very good free agent in Jawaan Taylor, they could have figured out a way to make it work where they potentially added Taylor as well as kept Orlando Brown Jr.

That may not have been overly realistic but they did go out and sign Charles Omenihu for the defensive line (another great move by Brett Veach and company) and they’ve freed up more cap space by converting part of Patrick Mahomes’ salary into a roster bonus. It’s possible the Chiefs could have just assembled an absolute wall in front of Mahomes by signing Taylor to be their right tackle and retaining Brown on the left side.

But, that didn’t happen. They let Brown walk, and he’s now a Bengal.

This is a huge move for the Bengals — literally, of course, but also just in terms of the implications it will have on the AFC late in the season. Having Brown protecting the blind side of Joe Burrow gives the Bengals a much better offensive line now than they had in the Super Bowl two seasons ago, which had to be rebuilt from scratch. They’ve been investing heavily in that group and now, they have a chance to be one of the most improved units in the league.

All thanks to the Chiefs.