The Kansas City Chiefs will make some additions on the offensive side of the ball during the upcoming free agency period.
Last year, the team invested heavily in the wide receiver position after trading Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. This time around, they might take a well-rounded approach to build up their depth at key offensive positions where they’re expected to lose some pieces. Offensive tackle is where they’re expected to make some moves, but we could see a few other position groups reinforced as well.
With the legal tampering period coming on Monday and free agency soon to follow, we’re taking a look at three underrated pending free agents on the offensive side of the ball who fit with the Chiefs.
Falcons WR Olamide Zaccheaus
A former undrafted free agent out of the University of Virginia in 2019, Zaccheaus is a player who was on the cusp of a breakout last year, but he was largely failed by his quarterback play. He finished the season with a career-high 40 receptions for 533 yards and three touchdowns, but it feels like a better QB situation could have seen an even more productive year for the wideout.
According to PFF’s Arjun Menon, Zaccheaus had 85 snaps last season where he was in single-man coverage. He defeated man coverage on 39 of those snaps, good for a 45.88% open rate. If Kansas City’s goal is to find more receivers who can beat single coverage when teams hone in on Travis Kelce, Zaccheaus should be at the top of their list and he probably won’t break the bank either.
Packers OL Yosh Nijman
Nijman is a restricted free agent, which means the Chiefs won’t be able to negotiate with him until one of two things happen. The first option would be that the Packers don’t tender him a contract offer and let him become an unrestricted free agent. The other option is the more likely scenario. The Packers can tender Nijman with either a first- or second-round tender. They can also use an original round tender, but in the case of an undrafted free agent, it’s wiser to use a right-of-first-refusal tender. A second-round tender, for instance, would mean that a team like the Chiefs could sign Nijman to an offer sheet and trade a second-round pick to the Packers to acquire him. Right-of-first-refusal would mean that any offer sheet could be matched by Green Bay.
As for the fit, Nijman has started nine games at left tackle during his career and started 11 games at right tackle last season. He meets all the thresholds for arm length (34 inches) and size (6-foot-7 and 320 pounds) that the Chiefs like at the tackle position. He hasn’t been infallible, with eight sacks allowed and 48 pressures in the past two seasons. Whether or not he’s truly an option for Kansas City comes down to how the Packers value him. If he’s tendered at right-of-first-refusal, I’d expect Kansas City to take a look.
Bears RB David Montgomery
Like it or not, the Chiefs need to find a complement for Isiah Pacheco this offseason. We know that Clyde Edwards-Helaire isn’t long for the team and the only other player they have under contract is La’Mical Perine. Montgomery, of course, has ties to new Chiefs OC Matt Nagy, who drafted him in Chicago. Shoutout to @TaiwanChiefsFan on Twitter, who dug up this old tweet from the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine:
Iowa State RB David Montgomery wasn't saying if he'd met with any teams. He did say it'd be exciting to play with #Chiefs QB and NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes.
— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) February 28, 2019
Montgomery has 915 carries for nearly 4000 yards and 26 touchdowns over the past four seasons. He’s not a bad receiver either with nearly an 80% catch rate on 155 receptions for over 1,200 yards and four scores. He’s more than capable and willing in pass protection too, with just 17 pressures allowed on 283 career pass-blocking snaps.
