Subscribe
Follow Us
Despite claiming five of the last six AFC titles, the Kansas City Chiefs entered the 2025 offseason with a lot on their plate. With clear roster needs to address and several internal questions, the Chiefs had a lot to evaluate during mandatory minicamp.
The Chiefs started the offseason with a shocking blockbuster trade, sending All-Pro guard Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears. Shortly after shipping Thuney, Kansas City also lost Tershawn Wharton, DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Reid, Joshua Uche and Justin Watson in free agency.
Kansas City did not make many new additions in response. Instead, general manager Brett Veach focused on retaining the rest of his roster. The Chiefs re-signed Charles Omenihu, Marquise ‘Hollywood' Brown, Nick Bolton, Kareem Hunt, Trey Smith and others. The team's most notable free agent signing came in the form of running back Elijah Mitchell, whom they plucked from the San Francisco 49ers.
Despite his ongoing struggles with injury, the Chiefs hope Mitchell will address the glaring backfield deficiency that limited them the entire 2024 season. While he is the only notable veteran joining the offense, Kansas City will also welcome Brown and Rashee Rice back from injury. Their return to the lineup should aid a lackluster pass-catching group that led to arguably the worst season in Patrick Mahomes' career.
The Chiefs are still firmly atop the AFC but enter the 2025 season under unique circumstances. With their 2025 mandatory minicamp wrapping up on Thursday, the Chiefs' roster is beginning to work itself out midway through the offseason.
WR Skyy Moore
The Chiefs' receiving corps has been an issue for a while now, and Skyy Moore has done nothing to help it. Kansas City drafted Moore in the second round back in 2022, a move the team has only grown to regret. In his three years, Moore has accumulated just 43 catches for 494 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Now entering the final year of his rookie deal, Moore is facing the most competitive offseason of his young career. The Chiefs added another receiver in the draft for the fifth consecutive year, taking Jalen Royals in the fourth round. Despite joining the team as a Day Three prospect, Royals is a legitimate weapon ready to contribute out of the gate.
Moore has been disappointing for his entire career, but 2024 was his official rock bottom. Despite the injuries to Rice and Brown, Moore managed to end the year with zero receiving yards. He played sparingly from Week 1 to Week 6, never participating in more than 47 percent of the offensive snaps, and generated just three targets before being benched and landing on injured reserve. Moore did not see the field at any point after Week 6.
Entering the 2025 offseason minicamp, the Chiefs did more than just add Rice and Brown back to the rotation. After drafting Royals, Kansas City also signed undrafted free agents Mac Dalena and Elijhah Badger, while bringing back Nikko Remigio and Jason Brownlee. Dalena, a 2024 first-team All-Mountain West wideout, garnered some attention during the spring as an undrafted prospect who turned heads.
Even with Hopkins, Watson and Mecole Hardman out of the picture, Moore's outlook is grim. If there was ever a time when he would amass any sort of success, it was 2024. Instead, he had the worst year of his career. Moore now enters his fourth offseason with the team with the most competition of his career and easily the biggest afterthought of the group.
Considering OTAs and minicamp are essentially passing showcases, Moore's failing to produce any noise outside of a slight increase in muscle mass is a bad sign. Unless he returns to training camp with a vengeance, Moore could be in his final offseason on the Chiefs' roster.
DE Mike Danna
Entering his sixth year with the Chiefs, Mike Danna is in a peculiar position. Despite coming off back-to-back seasons as the team's starting defensive end, Kansas City appears to be trending in another direction. Veach invested heavily in the edge-rushing market in the offseason, re-signing Omenihu before drafting Ashton Gillotte and Jeffrey Bassa in the draft.
The offseason moves put Danna under the most scrutiny. After posting a career-high 6.5 sacks in 2023, Danna's production dropped to just 3.5 in 2024. Likewise, George Karlaftis also regressed slightly, but still led the team with eight sacks. With pass-rushing being a significant component of Steve Spagnuolo's defense, the Chiefs are clearly making a concerted effort to improve that aspect, with snaps likely coming out of Danna's pocket.
Danna is still the incumbent starter, but he might be the Chiefs' most expendable defensive end on the 2025 offseason roster. Kansas City's reinvestment in Omenihu was just a one-year deal, but with four pressures in the team's final six games, he was already breathing down Danna's neck late in 2024. In addition to the incoming rookies, the team expects a third-year leap from former first-rounder Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
Given the lack of pads, offensive and defensive linemen rarely get shine in minicamp. However, with the Chiefs taking an extended look at their new additions, Danna is seemingly in a tough position midway through the offseason.
CB Nazeeh Johnson
In addition to edge-rusher, the Chiefs made a significant defensive effort to improve their cornerbacks in the 2025 offseason. Veach made one of his biggest free agency moves by signing Kristian Fulton to a two-year deal and drafted Nohl Williams in the third round. Kansas City further signed former USC star Jacobe Covington as an intriguing unrestricted free agency acquisition.
The flurry of moves puts former starters Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams on notice. Watson and Joshua Williams might not be happy with their new roles, but they will remain on the Chiefs' roster as depth pieces. Nazeeh Johnson, however, figures to be the group's biggest loser, as he goes from part-time starter to the roster bubble.
Following a pedestrian rookie season, Johnson made a giant leap in year two. He ended 2024 with career-highs across the board, posting 56 tackles, one sack and three pass breakups. Johnson started six games on the year, proving to be a valuable rotational piece as the Chiefs' secondary struggled with injuries all season. Unfortunately, he seems to be a surging player who happens to be on the wrong team.
For as much improvement he showed in 2024, Johnson is still not an every-down starter. His 53.9 player grade on Pro Football Focus ranked in the bottom 30 percent of the 222 eligible cornerbacks in the league. Given how impressed the Chiefs were with Nohl Williams in minicamp, Johnson might be the sixth-best cornerback on the roster. That places him firmly on the outskirts, especially if Covington continues to push him for a place on the team.
