While not every NFL team is done with free agency, as there are actually still a decent number of high-profile players on the market, many clubs around the league have signed everyone they're going to sign ahead of the draft, which is unbelievably less than two weeks away, as Round 1 gets underway in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, April 23.
And one would assume the Kansas City Chiefs are one of those teams, by the way, as they really don't have any money left to spend. But that's not the point here.
What is the point is that our pal Lou Scataglia over at NFL Spin Zone recently put together some new power rankings based on every team's current roster heading into the draft. And we're here to tell you, Chiefs fans, it's not pretty. I'm not one to leave you lingering for too long, so I'll end the suspense and tell you that he ranked Kansas City ranked 25th overall, and his reasoning doesn't leave anything to the imagination about why he put Andy Reid & Co. in that slot.
"It's hard to see why people are still high on the Chiefs. The roster got worse this offseason, and there is absolutely no guarantee how healthy Patrick Mahomes will be when Week 1 rolls around. This is a bad football team right now."
Not so subtle, right? Hey, at least they beat out the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 26. Yeah, I know that really doesn't make you feel better, but it's at least something.
The Chiefs have simply fallen behind in the AFC
If you're wondering where the Chiefs landed among AFC teams, they ranked 11th, with things in the conference shaking out as such:
Denver Broncos (No. 2)
New England Patriots (No. 4)
Houston Texans (No. 5)
Buffalo Bills (No. 6)
Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 7)
Los Angeles Chargers (No. 11)
Baltimore Ravens (No. 14)
Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 16)
Indianapolis Colts (No. 18)
Cincinnati Bengals (No. 21)
Kansas City Chiefs (No. 25)
Las Vegas Raiders (No. 26)
Tennessee Titans (No. 28)
Cleveland Browns (No. 29)
New York Jets (No. 30)
Miami Dolphins (No. 31)
I'm not going to pretend that I agree with everything on that list, whether it be the overall placement of certain teams or the order. But he's certainly got plenty of things right on there. And while I don't agree with Scataglia's assessment that the Chiefs are a "bad football team," there's no getting around the fact that the roster did indeed get worse, and that Mahomes' health will obviously play a big part in how Kansas City fares early in the year.
With all due respect to Justin Fields, who was acquired in a trade with the New York Jets and who I've always found to be a remarkable athlete, the guy's won 16 of 53 NFL starts.
When Mahomes is healthy, the offense will undoubtedly carry the team, especially now with running back Kenneth Walker III in place. But Kansas City still needs more depth at wide receiver. And as much as you don't want to say it, tight end could use some help as well, as Travis Kelce certainly isn't getting any younger.
The defense picked up some nice pieces in free agency in Alohi Gilman and Khyiris Tonga, but those additions don't come anywhere close to offset losing Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Bryan Cook, and Leo Chenal, among others.
The Chiefs have unquestionably fallen behind a bit in the AFC at this point. Even with Mahomes healthy, they'll still need more to win as many football games as Kansas City fans got used to seeing before this past year's debacle. I'm not saying they should be down at 25th, but the fact of the matter is that they're not a top-10 or top-15 team at this point in time.