The Kansas City Chiefs prepared themselves for the loss of starting left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to free agency with the signing of Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor to a four-year, $80 million contract. Brown went on to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals, becoming the new protector of Joe Burrow’s blindside for the Chiefs AFC rivals.
Taylor is a quickly improving 25-year old veteran who was the top lineman for a Jaguars line in 2022, coinciding with the hiring of offensive line coach Phil Rauscher. Taylor gave up only six sacks over the 2022 season, after allowing a league-high 40 between 2019 and 2021. He was drafted 35th overall by Jacksonville in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Chiefs have lost veteran offensive lineman Andrew Wylie to free agency, with the Washington Commanders signing him to a three-year, $24 million dollar deal. Wylie has spent the last five seasons in Kansas City, working at both tackle and guard. He is expected to become the starting right tackle in D.C., reuniting with his old offensive coordinator from Kansas City, Eric Bieniemy. Wylie’s signing was part of a mid-March flurry for the Commanders, who also inked Giants offensive lineman Nick Gates and Seahawks linebacker Cody Barton to free agent deals.
Kansas City added a pair of pieces to its defensive unit, agreeing to terms with former Buccaneers safety Mike Edwards III and former Chargers linebacker Drue Tranquill on one-year contracts. Those moves followed the Chiefs release of veteran defensive end Frank Clark, and signing San Francisco defensive lineman Charles Omenihu to a two-year deal. Meanwhile, veteran offensive lineman Nick Allegretti remains in Kansas City with a new one-year deal.
Following the move of Bieniemy from Kansas City to Washington, Matt Nagy’s role on the Chiefs coaching staff was elevated to offensive coordinator, with Joe Bleymeier moved to passing game coordinator.
Connor Embree moves from offensive quality control coach to wide receivers coach, with Todd Pinkston the new running backs coach, Porter Ellett as assistant running backs coach, David Girardi quarterbacks coach, Kevin Saxton an offensive assistant, and Dan Williams to offensive quality control. Running backs coach Greg Lewis has left the Chiefs, leaving Kansas City to become the next wide receivers coach for the Baltimore Ravens.