While the Chiefs again turned to Patrick Mahomes‘ increasingly team-friendly contract for a restructure to create cap space, they did move on from a core player to make room for Trey Smith‘s franchise tag. Kansas City traded three-time All-Pro Joe Thuney to Chicago, moving the guard’s contract-year salary off the books after tagging Smith. The team then re-signed Nick Bolton. Signed when the Chiefs transformed their O-line following a Super Bowl LV blowout loss, Thuney gave the Chiefs stability at left guard.

“As the years go on and we hope to keep this winning tradition up and have sustained success, it only becomes more difficult,” GM Brett Veach said during his pre-draft press conference. “(We) knew early on that we would be limited and that was obviously the reason why we had to make that trade with Chicago with Thuney. I mean, that was a player that we loved, and it was gut-wrenching to have to do that, but you had to do it.”

The Thuney trade saved the Chiefs $16MM in cap space but created a hole at LG. Kingsley Suamataia, who won the team’s LT job out of training camp only to be benched in Week 2, is expected to have a good chance to win succeed Thuney alongside new LT starter Jaylon Moore. Thuney missed just four games due to injury in four seasons, two of them coming to close out the 2023 campaign, but he is going into an age-33 season. It made sense for the Chiefs to swap out high guard salaries, as Smith will turn 26 this year.

Here is the latest from the AFC West:

• Despite showing interest in retaining Tre’von Moehrig, the Raiders let the young safety walk in free agency. The Panthers gave Moehrig a three-year, $51MM deal — now the league’s fifth-most lucrative safety contract — and the Raiders added Jeremy Chinn on a lower-cost contract (two years, $16.26MM). Las Vegas also lost Marcus Epps in free agency, re-signing Isaiah Pola-Mao (two years, $7.45MM). The latter is expected to see plenty of snaps alongside Chinn, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore, who notes the Raiders like their in-house safeties post-Moehrig. Pola-Mao, a 2022 UDFA, made 14 starts in place of Epps last season. It appears the former post-draft find has a clear path to keeping that role.
• The Raiders moved Hunter Renfrow back onto their radar, hosting the former Jon Gruden-era draftee on a free agency visit recently. Renfrow did not play last season and fell out of favor with the Raiders fairly soon after being given a two-year, $32MM extension during Josh McDaniels‘ first months on the job. No reunion has taken place, and The Athletic’s Vic Tafur views it as unlikely. A post-draft reassessment could take place at receiver, depending on how the Raiders fare next week, but Renfrow (29) may need to look elsewhere to secure a comeback opportunity.
• Kolton Miller is locked into a starting job, as he angles for a new contract, while DJ Glaze would appear to have the inside track to the Raiders’ right tackle gig. But the interior O-line will bring competition. Alex Cappa‘s two-year, $11MM contract points to the ex-Buccaneer and Bengal starter landing one of the jobs, but GM John Spytek said the FA addition will join holdovers Jackson Powers-Johnson, Jordan Meredith and Dylan Parham in competition. Cappa will vie for one of the guard spots, while Spytek said (via Tafur) the other three will compete for the guard and center roles. Parham has started at both positions over the past two seasons, while Meredith split his eight starts at both LG and RG last season. It would surprise if Powers-Johnson, a 2024 second-round pick, failed to win a job considering his draft pedigree. A move to center makes sense, as the Oregon product won the Rimington Award in 2023.
• Linked to a few veteran wideouts this offseason, the Broncos are planning to add at the position. Though, it is not known if a significant addition will come via an early-round draft pick or a post-draft free agency move.