3 players the Kansas City Chiefs gave up on way too soon

1. Jared Allen, defensive end

There can be only one player that reigns above the rest among players the Kansas City Chiefs gave up on way too soon.

That player is none other than Jared Allen.

The Chiefs selected Allen in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft, and he quickly became a household name. He finished fifth in the NFL in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting after racking up nine sacks and 10 tackles for loss in his first 15 NFL games.

Allen averaged 11 sacks per year over his first four seasons in the NFL with Kansas City, along with 10 QB hits and 14 tackles for loss. He had 26 passes batted in his first four NFL seasons along with 14 forced fumbles. This guy was a menace, and he was better in his fourth NFL season before he hit free agency than in any other. He had a career-best 15.5 sacks that season, being named first-team All-Pro and being selected to his first Pro Bowl.

The Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t work out a long-term contract with Allen, inexplicably, and they traded him to the Vikings for a king’s ransom of picks at the time. Even though the Chiefs got some good picks back in exchange for Jared Allen, he became an even more dominant force as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Allen averaged 14 sacks per season with the Vikings and had 16 forced fumbles over the course of 96 games in which he was named a first-team All-Pro three times. He was almost annually a Defensive MVP candidate. He made four Pro Bowls.

From 2008-2013, Jared Allen was one of the league’s best defensive players regardless of position and the Chiefs certainly could have used him, especially at the beginning of the Peyton Manning era in Denver when KC had some underrated competitive teams.

Unfortunately for the Kansas City Chiefs, Jared Allen will be going down as one of the best players in Minnesota Vikings history.