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2025 NFL offseason: Projecting bold moves in free agency, draft | ESPN
Kansas City Chiefs
Cut tight end Travis Kelce
This would be a very unpopular move, but Kelce’s contract is set up as an easy way for the Chiefs to gain cap space for 2025. According to Roster Management System, cutting Kelce would cost the Chiefs only $2.5 million in dead money while saving them over $17 million on the salary cap. That’s important with the Chiefs currently having negative effective cap space (i.e. the cap space that they would have after signing at least 51 players and a projected rookie class).
And while Kelce still had some important catches in the postseason, his regular-season performance collapsed in 2024. Kelce ranked 38th out of 49 qualifying tight ends in receiving DVOA, and he ranked dead last among tight ends in the ESPN receiver tracking metrics.
Five NFL Rookies Who Will Make the Leap in 2025 | SI
5. Xavier Worthy, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Worthy became a key contributor for the Chiefs down the stretch after being a first-round pick out of Texas. The diminutive 165-pound receiver caught 59 passes for 638 yards and six touchdowns while tacking on another 104 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. Of those receiving yards, 392 came in the final seven weeks (Week 18 excluded as Worthy sat out).
In 2025, Worthy will be paired with third-year receiver Rashee Rice as one of the league’s more dynamic, young pairs of receivers. Factor in coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and Worthy has the makings of a star in his second campaign.
2025 NFL free agency: Five teams that could be hit hardest this offseason, including Cowboys and Eagles | CBS Sports
4. Kansas City Chiefs
I’m not trying to claim the Chiefs’ Super Bowl window is closing, but they have some tough decisions to make this offseason. Not only does Pete Prisco consider Kansas City having five of the top 100 free agents hitting the market next month, but the Chiefs also have less than $8 million in available funds, according to Over The Cap.
I wouldn’t worry too much if the Chiefs have to again revamp their wide receiving corps with DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise Brown, Justin Watson and JuJu Smith-Schuster looking for new deals. Where the concern comes in is with starters at other positions. Right guard Trey Smith has the potential to reset his respective market and it doesn’t appear he will be tagged in any way, linebacker Nick Bolton is an important piece of the defense who’s expecting a pay raise and the same can be said for safety Justin Reid. Then on the defensive line, Tershawn Wharton is a free agent after he notched a career-high 6.5 sacks this past season, veteran Mike Pennel is looking for a new deal as are Josh Uche and Derrick Nnadi.
Gennaro Filice 2025 NFL mock draft 1.0: Jets jump Raiders for Shedeur Sanders; Broncos trade up for TE | NFL.com
31 – Kansas City Chiefs
Donovan Jackson
Ohio State · OG · Senior
In a free-agent class that isn’t exactly teeming with top-end talent, Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith is poised to get PAID on the open market, further debilitating an offensive line that just got manhandled on the game’s biggest stage. Jackson’s a talented guard who deftly transitioned to left tackle as an injury replacement during Ohio State’s national title campaign. He’s built to play inside at the NFL level, though that documented versatility could be an added bonus for an offensive line that’s clearly lacking on the edges.
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Backup WR: Xavier Worthy
Sorry, Tyreek Hill. If we made this roster a year ago, you would’ve been a lock. However, there’s a new top speedster in town that we’re going to take to help open up the field even more for us. Worthy amazed everyone last year when he ran a record-setting 4.21 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. He proved he could play at the highest level as well, recording 925 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns over the regular season and postseason as a rookie. Worthy also had three rushing touchdowns, so he’d give us a strong reverse or trick-play option.
Around the NFL
Panthers clear cap space with release of veteran CB Dane Jackson | ESPN
The Carolina Panthers cleared $3.35 million in salary cap space Friday with the release of veteran cornerback Dane Jackson.
Jackson signed a two-year, $8.5 million contract last March to play opposite 2024 Pro Bowl selection Jaycee Horn. The 2020 seventh-round pick by the Buffalo Bills missed the first six games with a hamstring injury and wound up being used mostly as a nickelback when he returned.
Even then, he struggled, allowing a 123.6 passer rating and 75.9 completion percentage when targeted.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
5 Chiefs-related thoughts on the 2025 NFL Draft class
1) The quarterback class isn’t friendly for the Chiefs in the first round, but potentially helpful on Day 2.
I won’t dive deep into the prospects since the Chiefs don’t need a quarterback. What I can say is that this class is the opposite of last year’s. Last year, six quarterbacks went in the top 12, which helped push prospects down the board for the Chiefs in the first round. On the flip side, no quarterback went on Day 2, so the Day 2 class was hurt for the Chiefs.
This year, it’s the opposite. The only quarterback I’m convinced goes on Day 1 is Miami’s Cam Ward. Everyone else I project for Day 2. This class is full of mid-tier prospects that make more sense to wait. If you want a point of comparison, I would look at 2013, when only EJ Manuel went in the first round, and the other quarterbacks went on Day 2.
2) This is not an impressive Day 2 wide receiver class.
We’ve had a good run of deep wide receiver classes over the past four to five years, but the 2025 class falls short of those standards.
At the top of the class are Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan, Texas’s Matthew Golden, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, and Missouri’s Luther Burden III.
I think the class considerably falls off after that. Other names that will be considered are Jayden Higgins, Tre Harris, Elic Ayomanor and Pat Bryant, but they don’t excite me much. I worry about how translatable their games are to the NFL. I worry the floor could fall out for them, and I question if they have the ceiling to justify taking them high.
At best, they all feel like smaller role players than complete receivers. If you need a wide receiver, take one early in this class; otherwise, wait for value.
