What we learned about the Chiefs this week

Report: Chiefs sign tight end Ricky Seals-Jones

Saturday’s news started on Friday evening, when the Kansas City Chiefs signed a former member of the Cleveland Browns.

Seals-Jones, 25, first entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals. Standing 6 feet 5 and 243 pounds, he played in 25 games (six starts) over two seasons with the Cardinals, compiling 46 catches for 544 yards and four touchdowns. The Cardinals waived Seals-Jones at finals roster cuts in 2019, and he was claimed by the Cleveland Browns for the 2019 season.

Seal-Jones played in 14 games (three starts) for the Browns, recording 14 catches for 220 yards and four touchdowns. The Browns chose not to tender Seals-Jones when they were able to land Austin Hooper in free agency.

23 Days of Draftmas: Memphis RB/WR Antonio Gibson

Our annual series on the draft’s top Chiefs prospects continued on Saturday with Kent’s look at a running back (or is he a wide receiver?) who could be an exciting player in Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s offense.

Gibson is one of the more unique prospects in class. He ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash — and on tape, it absolutely translates to obvious runaway speed. While he received minimal carries, Gibson is a physical runner with explosive play potential, averaging 11.2 yards per carry on 33 carries. In the passing game, Gibson averaged 19.3 yards per reception. Because he’s still raw as a route runner, I prefer him as a running back. However, his wide receiver traits translate beautifully to the running back room, potentially making him a dynamic weapon. With his large frame, he can high-point a football and win at the catch point.

Antonio Hamilton has wanted to play for the Chiefs for a long time

On Sunday, Pete caught up with the Chiefs’ newly-signed free-agent cornerback and special-teams ace.

Hamilton is familiar with Arrowhead Stadium, as he started his career as an undrafted free agent in Oakland in 2016. He explained that the crowd noise always stuck with him, and he hoped that one day, he would have a chance to play with the Chiefs.

“If you haven’t just been around that stadium when the fans start cheering, after they say ‘the Home of the,’ and they say the ‘Chiefs,’ my ears were about to pop on the sideline. I had never experience that before until I actually was going to Arrowhead Stadium, so I was like, ‘Man, that’s crazy.’ It’s got to be crazier to even be on that team and hear them cheer like that for you.

“It will be a great opportunity to play in front of those guys, so I’m excited for it.”

New Chiefs offensive lineman Mike Remmers took the scenic route back to Arrowhead Stadium

On Monday, we brought you a look at another new Chief who has managed to start 78 games in an NFL career that has taken him to nine teams over eight seasons. On his latest team, he’s most excited to meet the quarterback.

“You watch his highlights every week and you’re just like, ‘What he heck, he did that this week? And he did that this next week?’” said Remmers. “Every week he’s always doing something more creative. He’s a heck of a player, he moves really well, he slings the ball like crazy. He’s a heck of an athlete.

“I’m just extremely excited to meet him in person, see what he’s like in the locker room and in the huddle, just see how he operates out there. It’s been great watching him and now I’m excited to be playing with him.”

Six Chiefs named to NFL’s All-Decade Team

Monday also brought us news that the NFL had named homegrown Chiefs Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Tyrann Mathieu and Eric Berry to its All-Decade Team.

Travis Kelce (2013-present in Kansas City): Kelce has compiled 507 catches for 6,465 yards and 37 career touchdowns. He is the first tight end in history to record four straight seasons of 1,000 yards or more, with a chance for a fifth in 2020. Two-time first-team All-Pro (2016, 2018) and two-time second-team All-Pro (2017, 2019)

Former (single-season) Chiefs LeSean McCoy and Darrelle Revis also made the team.

Five unforeseen and irrational fan favorites from Chiefs history

Ron spent Tuesday putting together a list of five Chiefs who have made an indelible (if irrational) impression on the team’s fans.

I can’t lie. The motivation to write this article was to confess my irrational fandom for former Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen.

I was 10 years old when the 24-year-old third-string quarterback was thrown into the fire in 2008. During the first half of the season, he had periodically filled in while Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard had been injured. But starting in Week 8, Thigpen became the starter. He may have only won one of his 11 starts with the Chiefs — but there were some fun memories.

My favorite was in the Week 8 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the second quarter, a trick play sent Thigpen streaking down the field. Wide open, he caught a beautifully thrown ball from wide receiver Mark Bradley for a 37-yard touchdown that put the Chiefs up 21-3.

Reports: Kansas City Chiefs to sign free agent punter

The team signed two free-agent players on Wednesday — the first a young punter.

Newsome spent last offseason with the Los Angeles Chargers after going undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Chargers released Newsome at the 53-man roster cutdown, and he did not sign anywhere else the rest of the season.

The 6-foot-3, 218-pound punter played college football at Notre Dame from 2015-18. The Chiefs could save $1.95 million against the cap by moving on from veteran Dustin Colquitt, who has served the Chiefs as starting punter since 2005. The Chiefs did something similar last season when Jack Fox was signed to the 90-man roster and brought back to the practice squad later in the year to provide some competition there.

Report: Chiefs agree to one-year deal with running back DeAndre Washington

The next signing was a former Oakland Raiders running back who played with Patrick Mahomes in college.

Washington’s first career start came against the Chiefs back in 2016 in a 26-10 loss to Kansas City. It was the first of only five starts for Washington in his career. Three of those starts came last season with starting running back Josh Jacobs dealing with injuries. His combined stats in those contests were 54 carries for 214 yards (3.96 yards per carry) and two touchdowns and 16 catches for 119 yards.

Washington played four seasons at Texas Tech, including two seasons (2014-15) with quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Washington ran for 1,492 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2015 — his final season at Texas Tech — as Mahomes threw for 4,653 and 36 touchdowns, including two to Washington. Mahomes would stay another year at Texas Tech before being selected by the Chiefs in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Film review: new RB DeAndre Washington could bring a lot to Chiefs offense

On Thursday, Craig got busy with Washington’s film, concluding that he could be a solid addition to the running back corps — as long as he is able to improve his pass-protection skills.

Every year, we see talented running backs with strong traits struggle to make their mark on the Chiefs offense — simply because they can’t be trusted to keep Mahomes upright. It’s why Spencer Ware has often returned to the Chiefs: Reid knows he can trust Ware to protect his quarterback.

Fans shouldn’t expect Washington to be a top-tier running back for the Chiefs. But he is a solid complement to the running back corps — and isn’t someone we should just write off as a camp body. If Washington can develop his pass protection under Bienemy and Deland McCullough, there’s no reason to think a Chiefs running-back-by-committee that includes Washington couldn’t be successful in 2020.

Reports: Chiefs re-signing CB Bashaud Breeland to one-year deal

Meanwhile, the Chiefs were working on a new deal that will keep one of their Super Bowl-winning cornerbacks on the team for another season.

Breeland. 28, is entering his seventh NFL season after being drafted out of Clemson by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round (102nd overall) in the 2014 NFL Draft. This will be Breeland’s second season with the Chiefs. The team signed him to a one-year deal worth $2 million in 2019.

Breeland certainly lived up to that deal in 2019, allowing a completion percentage of just 48.4 and a quarterback rating of 92.2, collecting 48 tackles (37 solo) eight passes defensed and two interceptions over 15 starts. In the playoffs, he collected 15 solo tackles, three passes defensed — and a big interception in Super Bowl LIV.

Breeland was expected to be seeking a longer-term deal in free agency. As a free agent in 2018, he had signed a three-year, $24 million dollar deal with the Carolina Panthers that was voided when he failed a physical after sustaining a foot infection.

The case for the Chiefs taking an offensive tackle in round one

On Friday, Craig argued that despite just about everyone’s expectations, the Chiefs might try to get a first-class tackle in the 2020 draft — perhaps the University of Houston’s Josh Jones.

The Chiefs’ current offensive tackles are not getting any younger. Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz will be 32 at the start of the 2021 NFL season and left tackle Eric Fisher will be 30. That’s not ancient for the offensive tackle position, but Chiefs general manager Brett Veach hasn’t offered long-term contracts to players over 26 — let alone over 30. Fisher, in particular, is one to watch, as he’ll be in the last year of his contract in 2021 and can save $11.5 million against the cap.

The Chiefs may view Jones similarly to some of the other offensive tackles in the class and look to move him inside, even if only for a season or two. However, there has been no indication that the NFL views him as anything other than a tackle. While neither Schwartz nor Fisher is in dire need of replacement this season, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Chiefs could target a high-ceiling prospect to redshirt in a top-tier offensive tackle class.