If you want more Kelce, the Chiefs need Hopkins.

[Direckshun]

Yes, the Chiefs need (unless they're absurdly high on the current WR room).

And I do think that means they need to get a deal done with Jones.

The Chiefs have the cap space to make this all happen. They are currently sitting at $51m in cap space in 2024. The Chiefs can afford to give Jones the three year contract he probably wants at some obscene number of like $28m/year. They take a low, low cap hit this year with Jones, then end up tipping over $30m each of the next years. They then ink Hopkins to some deal that pays him a ton in year two and makes him cuttable by year three.

Doing this probably means the Chiefs won't have a lot of cap space in 2024. Those two deals are going to eat up most of that remaining space. They have deals with L'Jarius Sneed, Tommy Townsend, Mike Danna and Drue Tranquill to consider.

But here's the deal. They don't need cap space in 2024. With Hopkins, the WR room is settled and the team for 2024 is largely put together.

Here's some cap managing moves they likely make.

• I am flat-out assuming Gay and Danna are walking.
• The Chiefs probably make a deal to keep Smith in 2024 (low cap hit), and hold on to Humphrey for another year on his rookie deal.
• The Chiefs have the infrastructure in place to move on from Sneed, but if they extend him in 2024, you're going to have a low cap hit in 2024 anyway.
• None of the deals I envision are likely for them to make -- Smith, Townsend, and Tranquill -- are going to be super pricey anyway.
• The Chiefs are currently projected to have 9 draft picks in 2024.
• And of course, there is always the Mahomes cheat code, where Veach just steals from the Eagles' Howie Roseman and tacks on voidable years to Mahomes' contract while lowering his cap hit in the near term.

So tell me, where is the 2024 team hurting?

• Not at QB.
• Not at WR (Hopkins, MVS if he's still on the team, Toney, Moore, Rice, Watson, maybe even a Ross or two).
• Not at TE (Kelce, Gray, Bell or Fortson on a cheap deal)
• Not at OL (Taylor/Thuney/Humphrey/Smith/Morris).
• Not at DE (Karlaftis, Omenihu, FAU).
• Not at LB (Tranquill/Bolton/Chenal).
• Not at corner (Sneed is a ?, McDuffie, Watson, Williams, Jones, Johnson).
• Not at safety (Reid/Cook/Conner, maybe Edwards back on a minimal deal).

So the biggest weaknesses on the team are the most manageable: RB and 1-tech DT, and maybe CB if Sneed moves on. Those are not first round investments, not with Spags.

The 2025 departing free agents are not particularly scary either: Toney, Bolton, and Humphrey are the biggest names that I haven't discussed as extending above anyway, and I think most of us are betting the Chiefs bring back at least two of those three.

That means, in my opinion, that 2024 would be the perfect year to get hyper-aggressive to go up if necessary and get the best TE you can get your hands on.

Extend Kelce's career by having this TE take 60% of the snaps August through November, with Kelce taking back over as the primary weapon by December. With Hopkins in the fold, this will ensure the Chiefs have effectively Kelce-proofed the offense by next season.

Hopkins playing this year does possibly mean they can dial back some Kelce this season: Kelce has played 77% or more every year since 2015. It's time to dial him back some. Noah Gray seems ready to take a heavier snap load anyway.

But they're really going to need to make the investment next year. Even if it means trading away a future 2nd, or if the TE is talented enough, a future 1st. Because as long as you've got a healthy Mahomes and Kelce in January, you simply cannot bet against this team.

[kcbubb]

We don’t need an old, declining and expensive wr. Don’t get me wrong, I like Dhop but he isn’t a good fit with his cost and age. I’m excited about our wr room, more than last year at the start. And we need to give these young wrs a chance. Rice and skyy really need reps. We had the number 1 offense last year anyway. We can score points. We need dline and pass rush. The list of qbs we face needs to be respected and our focus for improvement should be on the defense, especially the dline.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by kcbubb

We don’t need an old, declining and expensive wr. Don’t get me wrong, I like Dhop but he isn’t a good fit with his cost and age. I’m excited about our wr room, more than last year at the start. And we need to give these young wrs a chance. Rice and skyy really need reps. We had the number 1 offense last year anyway. We can score points. We need dline and pass rush. The list of qbs we face needs to be respected and our focus for improvement should be on the defense, especially the dline.

My thought process is that these young guys are going to get reps.

Toney is going to get hurt, and MVS is likely to get cut/traded next year. The way it plays out in my mind's eye, Hopkins will end up as cuttable after the 2024 season as well.

I think we're all too high on Skyy anyway. He doesn't have great size or speed, he's just a clean route-runner. His peak in this league is probably a nicer version of Richie James: a middle-distance separation exploiter.

Rashee Rice has legitimate star potential, but he's going to take a year or two of seasoning anyways.

They're not going to be lacking for opportunity, though.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

I'll be glad when Hopkins signs with Tennessee so I don't have to hear it anymore. We don't NEED Hopkins and Verch isn't signing Hopkins. Continue to build defense. We have a TON of talent in the WR room now.

[BWillie]

Pretty much. The Chiefs are going to kill Kelce. He's thirty ****ing four years old this season. You need to start load managing him. He needs to be fresh for the playoffs.

[O.city]

This isn't the NBA or major league baseball. There's no load management.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by O.city

This isn't the NBA or major league baseball. There's no load management.

There absolutely is.

A lot of it happens now and during training camp, but even then last year on long drives he'd come out. And after a long drive is when you need his big ass in the redzone.

He used to NEVER come out.

There isn't load management like skipping games, but there is with skipping practice and snaps.

[ToxSocks]

No, they don't need Hopkins.

What they really need is one of these young cost controlled WR's to step up. They need one of them to develop into a reliable target. That would be far, far better for the Chiefs than paying Hopkins.

The need for a secondary receiving option does not mean we specifically need Hopkins. Don't conflate the two.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Extend Kelce's career by having this TE take 60% of the snaps August through November, with Kelce taking back over as the primary weapon by December. .

Yeah that's ridiculous. What are even talking about here.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

There absolutely is.

A lot of it happens now and during training camp, but even then last year on long drives he'd come out. And after a long drive is when you need his big ass in the redzone.

He used to NEVER come out.

There isn't load management like skipping games, but there is with skipping practice and snaps.

Sure, he doesn't need to practice every day and take every rep.

But with only 17 games, it's a god damn sprint all year. He ain't missing any substantial snaps becasue of that.

[Couch-Potato]

Would love to see us sign CJ & Hopkins this year, then Gay and Sneed next season.

[Chris Meck]

Hooey.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Pretty much. The Chiefs are going to kill Kelce. He's thirty ****ing four years old this season. You need to start load managing him. He needs to be fresh for the playoffs.

Or, as crazy as this sounds.... maybe the trainers and coaches who know a lot more about what Kelce actually has left in the tank can make that decision.

Just a thought. I know we fans know everything about our players, but in this case the staff might know just a teeeeeensy bit more than we do.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

Or, as crazy as this sounds.... maybe the trainers and coaches who know a lot more about what Kelce actually has left in the tank can make that decision.

Just a thought. I know we fans know everything about our players, but in this case the staff might know just a teeeeeensy bit more than we do.

I think we can safely rely on our lifetime of watching tackle football that he's not going to last forever, and that saving him snaps in the intermediate bears a better chance of him deliver snaps in the long term.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I think we can safely rely on our lifetime of watching tackle football that he's not going to last forever, and that saving him snaps in the intermediate bears a better chance of him deliver snaps in the long term.

This isn't basketball. Games are once per week, not once every two days. Or baseball, once a day. Load management is handled throughout the course of the week so the player is as physically prepared as possible for the ONE game they play a week.

One game played, 6 days of load management. That's how these things are handled in the NFL.