Chiefs News 4/9: Clark Hunt says Andy Reid is ‘reinvigorated’

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LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 11: Head coach Andy Reid celebrates with Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt after during Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images) | Getty Images

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Can Andy Reid reinvent himself and right the Chiefs? | ESPN

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In 2024, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt signed Reid to a contract extension that runs through the 2029 season. Hunt said he expects Reid to coach the entirety of the new deal. The word Hunt used last week to describe Reid was one that took him a few seconds to find.

“He’s reinvigorated,” Hunt said. “Going through multiple years where we were playing in the Super Bowl, creating these really short offseasons, put a lot of stress on him, as well as the entire team, including coaching staff and scouts. He’s really benefited from having some time to really step back and think about [last] season, think about what didn’t go right and think about what kind of changes need to be made.

“I do sense that he’s excited to get started.”

BACK IN JANUARY, several people in the Chiefs organization acknowledged how a number of small issues within the team over the past few years had compounded on top of one another last season.

The Chiefs still had the talent to win games last season: They ranked sixth in points allowed per game, Mahomes had a strong season before getting hurt, and top players on the roster (tight end Travis Kelce, pass rusher Chris Jones and cornerback Trent McDuffie) were still productive. But they fell in key moments in close games — something they hadn’t done the previous season. They went 1-9 in one-score games, the worst such record in the league. Mahomes, for the first time in his nine-year career, experienced a three-game losing streak as the starter.

“Just from a fatigue standpoint, fatigue wasn’t all physical,” Hunt said. “I think a lot of it was probably mental.”

Jawaan Taylor agrees to one-year deal with Falcons | Pro Football Talk

After Kaleb McGary announced his retirement, the Falcons have found a veteran candidate to slot in at right tackle.

Jawaan Taylor has agreed to a one-year deal with Atlanta, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

Schefter notes the deal is worth $5 million with another $1 million in incentives.

Taylor, 28, was released in March after three tumultuous seasons with the Chiefs. While he won Super Bowl LVIII with the club in 2023, he also amassed a whopping 54 penalties in his time with the club.

Taylor started all 17 games in 2023 before starting 16 in 2024 and 12 in 2025.

RotoPat’s 2026 NFL head coach rankings: Analysis for all 32 teams | NBC Sports

2. Andy Reid, Chiefs

Career Record: 279-157-1 (.640)
With The Chiefs Since: 2013
Last Year’s Ranking: 1

Andy Reid is one of the greatest coaches in the history of football. This was true even before he found Patrick Mahomes. If you want to say he’s still the best current coach, you could easily win the debate. Now, is he still the most dynamic? That would be harder to argue. On the one hand, you could ask: Why would Reid fix what isn’t broken? Why wouldn’t he keep running back the same offensive approach, the same assistant coaches? On the other, that’s why. For as much as 2025 was about bad luck, unfortunate injuries and sometimes both (see Travis Kelce separating Xavier Worthy’s shoulder in Week 1), it was the lack of dynamism and adjustments that stood out more. I am not a “football mind.” I know there is always an overarching strategy that might not be immediately apparent to my civilian understanding. But I feel I am qualified to ask: What is the thesis of this passing game? How has watching Patrick Mahomes become boring? Then I might follow up, if it is forces beyond Reid’s control holding back the aerial attack — poor draft capital, lack of cap space, league-wide defensive trends — why is it being supplemented by nothing on the ground? Reid tacitly acknowledged the need for new ideas when he let former OC Matt Nagy’s contract lapse, but perhaps not the will to really implement them when his solution was simply recycling former OC Eric Bieniemy. The joke is on you if you question Reid’s overall greatness. The joke will be on him, however, if he thinks mere tweaks and shufflings will be enough to right what went wrong in 2025.

What are the biggest holes the Kansas City Chiefs’ must fill in the NFL Draft? | The Athletic

Wide receivers

Starters: Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Tyquan Thornton

Backups: Jalen Royals, Nikko Remigio

Still need: A QB-friendly option for Mahomes. The team’s long-term prospects at wideout aren’t as secure as one might think. Rice is in the last year of his rookie deal, and his consistent off-the-field issues will make a long-term extension a tough sell. Worthy is due for a bounce-back after having his route tree limited following last year’s shoulder injury, while Reid said he envisions a bigger role for Thornton with a less-crowded room.

Draft outlook: The Chiefs should address receiver in the first two rounds of the draft, based on how things fall. They could aim high for top-end talent like Ohio State’s Carnell Tate or USC’s Makai Lemon at No. 9, or choose to take advantage of the draft’s depth at the position while waiting for a potential still-high-upside target with the 29th or 40th pick. General manager Brett Veach and Reid tend to gravitate toward shorter, speedier receivers, but they also could diversify here while hoping an outside guy could help the team’s deficiencies against man coverage and in the red zone.

2026 NFL Draft needs: The one goal each AFC team must nail | NFL.com

Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs’ biggest draft goal: Cornerback

Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson left for Los Angeles in March, leaving a void the Chiefs attempted to address by adding slot corner Kader Kohou. They shouldn’t stop there. No offense to Nohl Williams, but if the Chiefs are going to return to prominence in 2026, they’re going to need more playmakers at the position. This should be their top priority (and after that, offensive line) in the draft.

Here’s Chiefs Veteran Under Most Pressure in 2026 | Sports Illustrated

Thin margins

In a thin-margin league, Harrison Butker is struggling during the worst time. Among qualifying kickers over the last two seasons, he ranks 15th in the league in field-goal percentage (85.7) and 25th in PAT percentage (90.9).

Speaking of thin margins, last month, the Texans made Ka’imi Fairbairn the league leader in average annual compensation among kickers. Fairbairn’s new contract averages $6.5 million per year, just above Butker ($6.4 million). Brandon Aubrey would seem to be next in line to join that pair.

Butker still has three years remaining on the four-year, $25.6 million extension he signed in preseason 2024. The Chiefs can’t be happy that his numbers have declined since they extended his deal.

Around the NFL

Falcons OT Kaleb McGary retires from the NFL | The Atlanta Falcons

McGary was selected with the 31st pick in the 2019 NFL Draft after the Falcons traded back up into the first round to acquire him. Together with guard Chris Lindstrom, who was also selected in the first round of the 2019 draft, McGary solidified the right side of Atlanta’s offensive line and helped forge some of the league’s best rushing attacks. The Falcons boasted top-10 rushing offenses each year from 2022-25, fueled in part by McGary’s prowess as an open-field and edge-setting blocker.

“I was fortunate that Kaleb was able to come in with me in 2019,” Lindstrom said in 2023 after McGary signed a three-year contract to remain in Atlanta. “After I got signed and I knew I was going to be here for a while, and — Kaleb is my partner. You have your friend and your teammate, and you want him to be on the field with him.”

McGary played in 93 games with 92 starts for the Falcons across six seasons. He was slated to enter his seventh season as a starter in 2025 but suffered a knee injury on the final day of training camp and missed the full year.

Texans exercise fifth-year options for C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson | Pro Football Talk

The Texans had a pair of fifth-year option decisions to make this offseason and they’ve made the same call on both of them.

Field Yates of ESPN reports that they have exercised their 2027 options on the contracts of quarterback C.J. Stroud and edge rusher Will Anderson. Stroud was the second overall pick that season while Anderson joined the team after they traded back up to the No. 3 pick.

Stroud is now set to make $25.904 million in 2027 while Anderson will be in line to make $21.512 million.

There could still be other contract news involving both players. They are extension eligible and the Texans could lock up either or both players well beyond 2027 if negotiations go well in the coming months.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs host NC State TE Justin Joly on a top-30 visit. What to know

Fit with the Chiefs

Fit: Low

Round grade: Fifth round

Honestly, while there is a lot to like about Joly, I don’t see him as much of a fit with the Chiefs. If Rashee Rice can’t beat Joly out for slot snaps, then the Chiefs have a bigger problem, and Noah Gray is a better blocker.

When it’s all said and done, I expect Joly to have a Jody Fortson-level career, which is not a knock on Joly by any means. When he was healthy, Forston was a fun red-zone target for Mahomes. But with all the holes the Chiefs currently have on this roster, I’m not sure Kansas City should spend a draft pick on a guy who projects to be a career backup.

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