You'd assume the Kansas City Chiefs would rank toward the very top of the National Football Players Association's annual “report card” of franchises across the NFL. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and their teammates have won two straight Super Bowls, also hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2020 and play for one of the most revered coaches in all of professional sports. Kansas City is right in the thick of a true dynasty, enjoying by far its most sustained success of the organization's 60-plus year history.
For the second straight year, however, the Chiefs are among football's lowest bottom-dwellers in the NFLPA report card. Why did the team rank 31st, only ahead of the Washington Commanders, in the 2024 survey? Certainly not due to any dissatisfaction with Andy Reid, who received an ‘A+' grade from players across the league.
Its billionaire owner Clark Hunt and his notorious aversion to spending that's helped make Kansas City again one of the league's worst-graded franchises.
Hunt received an ‘F-‘ grade in the ownership category from Chiefs players, the lowest mark in the NFL. Kansas City also garnerd an ‘F' grade in the ‘locker room,' ‘training staff' and ‘nutritionist/dietician' sections.
Chiefs players were reportedly promised after last season that their practice locker room would be renovated, a development that never came to pass supposedly because ownership didn't have enough time to make changes due to the team's Super Bowl run, per ESPN's Dan Graziano. A criticism from players in last year's survey was that Kansas City only had stools in the locker room instead of chairs, one that was addressed in 2023.
Chiefs asking taxpayers to foot majority of bill for stadium renovation
The Chiefs' second straight bottom-two grade comes on the same day Hunt—the son of AFL and team founder Lamar Hunt and grandson of Texas oil tycoon H.L. Hunt—unveiled plans for $800 million in upgrades to Arrowhead Stadium, including exclusive, expensive new end zone clubs and suites on the historic venue's lower level. Hunt, whose net worth is valued at $2 billion, plans to cover $300 million of the overhaul, leaving Kansas City taxpayers to foot the remaining $500 million for what the team is calling a “Reimagined” Arrowhead.
There's no denying that Hunt has been an effective steward of the NFL's most successful team over the last six-plus years. But the presence of Mahomes, Reid, his coaching staff, general manager Brett Veach and the scouting department certainly accounts for Kansas City's dominance more than Hunt.
I’m not following the importance of cash spending in a salary-capped league where most teams, including the outlier chiefs here, are usually right up against the cap. Does this just show how teams like to structure their deals? I.e. the Chiefs don’t like large signing bonuses?
— kc masterpiece (@tweetweet_mfs) February 28, 2024
Don't expect Hunt to react in kind to another embarrassing standing in the NFLPA report card. The NFL keeps club revenue numbers intentionally close to the chest, but it's safe to say the Chiefs have never raked in more money than they have over the last two seasons. Billionaires like Hunt always want more money, though, even at the expense of what's best for the greater good—in this case, both his players and the people of Kansas City.
After another Super Bowl victory, why would Hunt spend more than the lowest amount he must? After all, Mahomes has already made public plans for a three-peat. Playing for a cheap owner won't stop he and the Chiefs, just like it hasn't during his unprecedented six-year run as Kansas City's starting quarterback.
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