Ranking Kansas City's Best Remaining Free-Agency Options
The Kansas City Chiefs made plenty of noise during the first wave of free agency, re-signing and bringing in players on offense and defense to help put the franchise in the best position to win and return to the postseason. But the team still has a few more holes to address in order to do great in 2015.
While Kansas City's top two position concerns were offensive line and wide receiver, general manager John Dorsey addressed those spots. However, the Chiefs still need more help in those spots, as well as a couple of other areas.
The only thing that could stand in the team's way is its current cap situation. According to Over The Cap, the Chiefs have a cap room of $902,325 and will need to find a way to create more cap space or snag players with potential for a low price.
In this slideshow, we will go over some remaining free agents who the Chiefs should aggressively target this week.
1. C Stefen Wisniewski
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Losing Rodney Hudson, Kansas City's sole viable pass-blocker, hurt the offense—that is, until Dorsey traded for Ben Grubbs and signed Paul Fanaika. While the Chiefs do have two good guards, they need someone in the middle to help form a stout interior offensive line.
Since the Oakland Raiders grabbed Hudson, that means they won't bring back Stefen Wisniewski.
Wisniewski started all 61 games he was available for in Oakland, missing just three games in his career.
According to Pro Football Focus, Wisniewski has surrendered only three sacks in his entire career. Two of them were in his rookie year, and his third occurred in Week 1 of this past season.
Pro Football Focus also shows that Grubbs and Fanaika each allowed only one sack while with their respective teams last year.
If the Chiefs can come away with Wisniewski, Dorsey will have added three interior offensive linemen, each allowing only one sack last year.
2. WR Michael Crabtree
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Michael Crabtree would be a great fit for the Chiefs, mainly because he has familiarity with Alex Smith. The two played together from 2009 until Smith suffered an injury midway through the 2012 season.
Crabtree, who is one of the top wide receiver free agents available, can make an impact right away because he knows Smith pretty well on the gridiron.
After an abbreviated 2013 season due to injury and taking a step back with his performance in 2014, a change of scenery might be the best move for Crabtree.
3. WR Cecil Shorts
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From working with Blaine Gabbert, Chad Henne and Blake Bortles in Jacksonville, Cecil Shorts has never had a chance to shine with a good quarterback under center. If given the chance with good talent around him, Shorts will flourish.
If he goes to Kansas City, he becomes a No. 2 receiver, and a reliable one, opposite of Jeremy Maclin.
This gives Smith a pair of viable weapons and some end-zone threats. Given that the Chiefs had zero wide receiver touchdowns last season, this is a big improvement that helps the offense become more three-dimensional.
Given that Shorts has never had a big year in the NFL, he could come at a low price, which helps the Chiefs, who are currently in a bind after spending some money last week.
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4. TE Zach Miller
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Zach Miller went quiet in his career when he joined the Seattle Seahawks in 2011, never recording a season with more than 400 receiving yards. But Miller found the end zone while with the Raiders and Seahawks 20 times through his nine-year career.
Miller's receiving numbers can improve if he joins the Chiefs. Smith has shown that he does well when throwing to tight ends with Travis Kelce in Kansas City and Vernon Davis in San Francisco. Miller would be a good second option at tight end behind Kelce, giving the Chiefs a little more firepower on offense.
In addition to possibly seeing his catching total go up, Miller would be great for Jamaal Charles in the rushing department.
According to Pro Football Focus, Miller was rated the fourth-best run-blocking tight end in 2013 and 2012. After failing a physical and suffering a second ankle injury within a year, Miller hopes that 2015 could be his bounce-back year, and the Chiefs would be a good fit for him.
5. ILB Brandon Spikes
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The Chiefs did not have many glaring holes on defense last year. After all, they were the only NFL team to not allow 30 or more points in a game and finished second behind Seattle against the pass.
Kansas City's only defensive woe in 2014 was stopping the run, especially late in the season, finishing 28th.
The Chiefs were without Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito, both of whom will return from Achilles injuries. If the Chiefs add Spikes, in addition to the return of Johnson and DeVito, Kansas City's front seven will be dangerous and could be one of the best in the league.
Spikes has consistently done well against the run, plugging holes in the middle and not allowing running backs to get through.
Kansas City's defense was rarely the cause of a loss last season, as the Chiefs were never blown out in any of their seven losses. Signing Spikes would force offenses to spend a lot of time planning against this complete Chiefs defense.
All statistics courtesy of ESPN.com
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