The Kansas City Chiefs’ decisions in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft have impacted their ability to land top free agents following the draft.
Fans were taken aback when Melvin Ingram opted to sign with the Miami Dolphins over returning to the Chiefs. The same reaction happened on Wednesday when James Bradberry agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles. Kansas City had been linked to both players over the course of the offseason, but why didn’t either end up with the team? It can simply be boiled down to opportunity.
Bradberry signed with the Eagles and instantly landed atop their depth chart. That wouldn’t have happened had he signed in Kansas City. He would’ve been competing for playing time with a rookie first-round pick like Trent McDuffie at the bare minimum. Never mind that the team also has Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson and even Lonnie Johnson in the mix. Oh and then there are established veterans like L’Jarius Sneed and Rashad Fenton. Even if the Chiefs had matched a pricey one-year deal for Bradberry, why would he opt for such a competitive situation?
It’s the same deal with Ingram to an extent. Playtime, if you’ll recall, was the biggest reason that Melvin Ingram wanted out of Pittsburgh after signing with them during the last offseason. He only exceeded 70% of the defensive snaps with the Chiefs last season during four of the 12 games he played in after he was traded to the team. That’s all without having to compete for snaps with a rookie first-round draft pick in George Karlaftis.
Sure, he’ll have to contend with Emmanuel Ogbah and Jaelan Phillips in Miami, but it’s also an entirely new regime down in South Beach. It’s entirely possible that they envision Ingram starting over Phillips. In K.C., Ingram is looking at a minimum of a four-way split for snaps Karlaftis, Frank Clark and Mike Danna.
When good players remain available, inaction is frustrating. At the same time, it always will come down to what the player thinks is in their best interest. In the case of players like Ingram and Bradberry, it’s easy to see why they opted for other opportunities. It’s also probably why you won’t see any big names at edge rusher or cornerback flocking to join the Chiefs at this point in time.
