#CHIEFSKINGDOM | Madden 22

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***POST TO MARK END OF 2021 SZN***

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Reid, Coordinators Extended

By Tyler Barrister | Kansas City Star | February 16th, 2022

On the heels of three straight Super Bowls, including two wins, the Chiefs have extended the contract of head coach Andy Reid for three more years for a total of $22.5 million, with a team option for a fourth year at the same yearly rate of $7.5 million. The 62-year-old is now 2-2 in Super Bowls, including 2-1 with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback despite a relative down year for the offense in 2021.

They also extended the contracts of both offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo two years each, leaving the top three coaches on staff intact at least through the 2023 season, provided one or both don't leave for head coaching positions in that time frame. No other coaching staff changes were announced, although that could change as the offseason progresses.

In addition, Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt announced that team president Mark Donovan would be stepping down, and that GM Brett Veach would be named as the team's new president. Veach, 41, would still have some say in personnel, but there is now an opening in the front office in Kansas City for the day-to-day operations of running the personnel side of things.

"We wish Mark the best of luck in the future as he is planning to leave to pursue other endeavors outside of football," Hunt's statement read. "Brett has been one of the brightest young executives in professional football, but there is a new challenge for him that he's chosen to take on, and we're excited with what we can do going forward."

There is speculation that current VP of Football Ops Brandt Tilis, who handles the Chiefs' salary cap obligations, would be the first in line to replace Veach, but Hunt insisted that a 'thorough search' would take place to fill Veach's old role.

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Henne Hangs Them Up

By Tyler Barrister | Kansas City Star | February 18th, 2022

Well, the Chiefs will now be in the market for a backup quarterback. Long-time NFL signal caller Chad Henne has called it a career, retiring after fourteen years in the league. He'll forever be in Chiefs' lore as coming in cold off the bench midway through the third quarter of the 2020 Wildcard Weekend round, helping keep the ship afloat after Patrick Mahomes was knocked out of the game.

In that game, he nearly converted a 3rd-and-14 with a scramble, before putting the game on ice with a 4th-and-1 completion to Tyreek Hill to convert the first down. The sequence spurred the phrase 'Henne-thing Is Possible' that was printed on t-shirts and other clothing all around the Kansas City area in the weeks following the game.

Henne wasn't on the active roster for the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory on February 2nd, 2020, as he was on IR with a fractured ankle that he suffered in the preseason that year. However, Mahomes credits him and the other veteran quarterbacks he's been around (Matt Moore, Alex Smith) for helping him get to this point in his career.

"Between him, Alex, and Matt, there's four decades-plus of football there," he said. "It's really fortunate that I've had a chance to pick their brains, as there really isn't much they haven't seen. And Chad himself, he came into a tough situation and helped us win that playoff game."

Drafted by the Dolphins in the second round of the 2008 draft, Henne was expected to grow into the starters' role after a fine college career at Michigan. It just never worked out for him, however, and he ended up going to Jacksonville and spending six seasons there, playing behind other quarterbacks like David Garrard and Blaine Gabbert. He's been in Kansas City since 2018, the year after the team drafted Patrick Mahomes in the first round. That was also the year that they traded Alex Smith to Washington for the final year of his contract.

He's played in just two games this season, throwing for eighty-two yards in relief of Mahomes in the 27-3 loss to Tennessee back in Week 8. He played briefly against the Raiders in Las Vegas a few weeks later, but didn't throw a pass or attempt a run.

"Just want to say thanks for 14 fun years, but there are times you know it's time to go, and this is one of those times," he posted on Twitter, tagging the Dolphins, Jaguars, and Chiefs with a mashup uniform of all three teams. "I especially want to thank the Dolphins for taking a chance on a rural Pennsylvania kid."

Knickerbocker91 likes this.

[Knickerbocker91]

Congrats on beating Brady & the Bucs

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Reid: Travis Kelce "Was Never 100% All Season"

By Tyler Barrister | Kansas City Star | February 20th, 2022

All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce is going to undergo surgery to repair a nerve at the base of his neck, according to head coach Andy Reid, who spoke with the media for the first time in Kansas City since the Super Bowl ended. Kelce had a down year by his standards, catching just eighty-eight balls for 1,023 yards and eight scores.

He also had a career-worst eleven dropped passes, five more than his previous career worst of six, back in his second year in the league in 2013. He was targeted 124 times, ranking first amongst tight ends for the fourth straight season.

The injury was suffered in the team's 27-3 loss to Tennessee earlier in the season, and ended up playing about 80% of the snaps that he played in the previous two seasons on average. Reid also noted that he battled shoulder and rib injuries throughout the season, as well.

"He won't use that as an excuse for why he dropped some of those passes he did, but he was never 100% throughout the entire season," Reid said. "He just went out there at 60, 70-percent in his estimation pretty much every night and played his heart out."

He's not expected to miss any time later this season, including the preseason. Reid said that he's hopeful that he can be back at full strength once OTA's roll around.

"That's the plan," he quipped when asked about a potential timetable. "Rick (Burkholder) and his staff do a great job...I feel really good about where he's at, and where he'll be four, five months from now."

Now 33, Kelce is expected to make just $7.5 million this season, before $13 million in 2023 and $15 million in 2024, which is the final year of his current deal.

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Quote: Originally Posted by Knickerbocker91

Congrats on beating Brady & the Bucs

I think 2022 is going to be rough by recent standards, though. The cap situation isn't great, and my star skill guys are getting up in years.

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2022 Offseason Preview: Offense

By Tyler Barrister | Kansas City Star | February 22nd, 2022

Quarterbacks

Returning: Patrick Mahomes, Shane Buechele
Pending FA: None

The retirement of Chad Henne was not surprising, but it also didn't appear the Chiefs were willing to bring him back on another one-year pact, as they've done the past few seasons. They liked Buechele enough to protect him from other teams poaching him off the practice squad by moving him up after it was rumored the Cardinals were interested in the wake of Kyler Murray's short-term injury. Andy Reid and company have not drafted a quarterback since taking Mahomes in 2017, and I don't expect that to happen this year either. However, it seems the top backup options are all going to be more expensive than Henne ever was, so they could just roll with Mahomes and Buechele and call it a day; only carrying a third quarterback on the practice squad in case of injury.

Backfield

Returning: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Darrel Williams, Derrick Gore
Pending FA: Jerick McKinnon, Michael Burton (FB)

Williams signed a two-year extension back in November, and Burton is likely to be offered an extension, if you can believe my colleague Sam Mellinger. McKinnon, who was brought in on a $3.5 million contract this past season, seemed to get lost in the shuffle; carrying the ball just eleven times all year, and catching ten passes while losing snaps to Gore, who was mainly a practice squad player. It's possible that they bring him back, but I can't imagine they will at that rate; it's more likely they look to the late rounds, or try to grab an UDFA with some promise.

Later in the year, the offense began shifting to a more run-oriented style, and mixed in more screens and wheel routes to try and free up the outside routes for more 1-v-1 opportunities. Edwards-Helaire excelled at LSU running those types of plays/routes, and the offense was better in the final month for it. Will they keep it up?

Receivers/Tight Ends

Returning: Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman, Cornell Powell, Daurice Fountain, Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, Jody Fortson
Pending FA: Josh Gordon, Byron Pringle, Demarcus Robinson, Marcus Kemp

This is a pretty scary receiver room right now, and not in a good way. I think the Chiefs bring back one of the three pending free agents above (plus special-teamer Kemp), but it's difficult to tell which one. Robinson came on late with some strong performances down the stretch, but disappeared in the playoffs only to see Josh Gordon have some nice games in the postseason. This is shaping up to be a pretty good overall class of receivers, both draft and free agency, so it's hard to fathom that the Chiefs don't come away with one or two quality players here.

Tight end-wise, Gray had his moments, and Fortson looked really good before his Achilles injury. This isn't to say they won't pursue an upgrade to the depth; however, this class of tight ends is considered amongst the weakest in recent memory. Kelce had a down year by his standards, only catching eighty-eight passes for 1,021 yards and eight touchdowns.

Offensive Line

Returning: Orlando Brown, Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Lucas Niang
Pending FA: Mike Remmers, Kyle Long, Austin Blythe

Aside from the starting quarterback, this group should go into 2022 with a ton of promise. Orlando Brown, Jr., made his first Pro Bowl, and guard Joe Thuney and center Creed Humphrey were named to the All-Pro team. In fact, some statistical modeling had Humphrey has the top center in football last year as a rookie, and paired with Thuney and right guard Trey Smith (also a rookie), the interior of the Chiefs' line seems set, right? There has been some chatter that the Chiefs are considering shuffling Brown from left to right tackle, and looking to shift Thuney out to left tackle. Andy Reid noted in the last preseason that Thuney would be Brown's 'backup' at left tackle in case of injury, though that situation never materialized. If this change happened, the only real hole on the line would be left guard, and that seems like a position that could be claimed in-house, with Lucas Niang and Nick Allegretti having starting experience.

Much of that will have to do with what they do in the draft. Currently, most mock drafts have them going defense in the first round, with linebacker Nakobe Dean out of Georgia being the most prevalent. Some have them going offensive line, with Central Michigan tackle Bernhard Raimann and Mississippi State tackle Charles Cross amongst the more well-known names. A few others have Treylon Burks falling all the way to #32, and the Chiefs grabbing the Arkansas receiver to give Reid's offense the big, downfield threat that they hoped that Gordon would be.

[Jeffruel]

As a Chiefs fan, I can't wait to see what you do this off season. I think they'll likely resign Demarcus or Pringle because they seem completely done with Mecole and Gordon, but I am curious to see what you decide to do. Mecole is a great madden player with his speed.

I'd be looking to snag an impact WR in round 1. I have trouble finding WR's later in the draft, but have had solid luck with other positions in later rounds. There are always some solid TE's in the middle rounds to start alongside Kelce, and take over for him when he hangs it up in a year or two.