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The Kansas City Chiefs have an offensive line problem, and they intend to start solving it this week. Free agency opens unofficially on Monday and, sources said, the Chiefs are prepared to at least kick the tires on some high-end options.

They currently have major issues at left tackle, right tackle and center, to name a few positions, due to cap cuts, injuries and free agency. It's not a pretty picture. Perhaps not as ugly as the performance of said unit in the Super Bowl, but, then again, it might be even worse. Regardless, let's just call it a significant problem, and one that the team is likely to be creative to try to solve.

Some in other front offices are convinced the Chiefs are the primary competition to the 49ers for the services of former All Pro left tackle Trent Williams. And Williams could end up being the best free agent prize in this entire market, regardless of position. Both of these teams seem willing to go into the $20M a year range for Williams, despite his injury, and he would be a great fit in either offense. His past with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan – in Washington and San Francisco – may swing things that way, but even if so I wouldn't rule out Kansas City being among a group of a half dozen or more legit suitors for Joe Thuney, the best guard on the market (and someone I get the sense the Patriots would love to retain as well).

Landing one of the two big fish on the offensive line market wouldn't be a bad start for the Chiefs. I could also seem them bringing back Mike Remmers as a swing tackle or, perhaps, he ends up the starter on the right side with Mitchell Schwartz no longer there (pending Schwartz's recovery from a significant back injury, a reunion with the Chiefs might make sense as well, but that might not come in to focus until the season starts). Suffice to say, there are options.

The Chiefs can't get in the business of getting Patrick Mahomes beat up and tossed around like he was in the playoffs, and winning so much breeds its own problems – picking at the end of each round and running into cap/payroll issues. Kansas City's cap situation is hardly ideal, but there are always ways to structure deals so that lump sum payments come down the road, and the Mahomes deal, in terms of its length and cash outlays, was certainly far from the norm.

Few true contending teams have such a glaring, singular need across one position group. By Monday night they might be far closer to beginning to solve it.

Agents say not to expect record spending

Whenever you see a bunch of players re-signing with their teams on the eve of free agency, it's not going to be a record spending year. That's a pretty overt sign that the pandemic and depressed cap and nature of this free agency class are not conspiring in a great way for the players.

The "illegal" tampering period was not as fertile or robust as in former years, numerous league sources said, and there is a strong sense that this first wave of free agency won't be as overwhelming as in years past, and that a quick reckoning is on the other side of it; by mid-week it might be $1-$2M take-it-or-leave it deals, instead of the mid-range deals veterans are accustomed to.

"My sense is the market, overall, is going to be more depressed than usual," said one prominent agent who has several in-demand clients. "We're in a pandemic. The cap is way down. It is what it is."

Another top agent said: "Give it a few days and we'll be straight to vet minimum deals once these upper-class deals are final."

The reality of this group is there are about 12-15 players not on the franchise tag who will do extremely well, and then things will drop off. There are a cluster of 2-4 players at most key positions who will command top dollar, then it tiers off – in some cases dramatically. It is short on skill players – especially quarterbacks – and while it boasts great depth at key spots like pass rusher, many of them will be clustered between $8M-$12M a year, and most on one-year deals.

The best running back on the market, by far – Green Bay's Aaron Jones – elected to give away four years of his services, in his prime, for below this year's franchise tag number (for what amounts to $19M for two years) rather than even officially hit the non-tampering market on Monday. It's essentially another two-year look-see for the Packers on a truly special player, who they can then discard when he is closer to 30. It's way better for them than actually slapping the tag on Jones (though it makes their selection of a running back in the second round last year almost as bizarre as them taking a quarterback in the first round).

We've seen the Bills secure a bunch of key talent lately, and sources said the Lions are making a strong push to keep pass rusher Romeo Okwara, and the Bucs are doing the same with Shaq Barrett; if they stay put then this market looks even less impactful on paper.

This ain't a great year to have to try to fill a bunch of big holes in free agency, but it will reward already strong franchises that can be patient and who are already somewhere veteran players want to be. It's also a great time to get your own top talent extended long term (and look to put some balloon payments in 2023, when the cap is likely to soar like never before).

Price of top two CBs will be high

William Jackson and Shaquill Griffin sit atop the corner market, and while the sense I get from teams is that they'd love to get them in the $12-$14M range, I suspect they get to $15M. Maybe higher.

The Seahawks, 49ers, Colts, Panthers, WFT, Cardinals and Jaguars are just some of the teams out there shopping for corner help. There isn't all that much to go around. Things start to fall off after these two, though I hear Patrick Peterson, despite his age, is the third-rated corner of this class among some teams I've talked to.

It's worth noting that among all free agent corners to ever hit the market at age 25, Griffin ranks first in percentage of snaps played (82.75%), games played (53), interceptions (6), passes defensed (48) and tackles (249). He also ranks very favorable to the 10 highest paid corners in the NFL in several key metrics – first in YAC/reception allowed and fourth in disruption % (interceptions plus pass breakups per targets). Pretty impressive. He also has a Pro Bowl already under his belt.

More insider notes

  • It will be a fascinating dynamic to see how the former Ravens edge players who were on a franchise tag in 2020 fare. I suspect there could be quite a chasm. Baltimore had Matt Judon and Yannick Ngakoue on the tag last year after landing him in a trade from Minnesota midseason (Ngakoue left $6M on the table to get out of Jacksonville and to the Vikings via trade in the first place). At this point it would be a surprise to see either back in Baltimore, and the sense I am getting is the market for Ngakoue – who has a rough half season with the Ravens – will be nowhere near Judon's price point … 
  • The sense among agents I spoke to was the wide receiver market was a little slow developing. Kenny Golladay is in his own tier at the top of the market as an outside receiver, but the gap between him and everyone else in this free agent class could be huge.