Getty Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Justin Watson celebrates a touchdown with a coach on December 21, 2019.
We’ve heard analysts talk about it all year long, the Kansas City Chiefs still need that third receiving threat behind Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.
Between priority re-signings like LT Orlando Brown Jr. and more pressing needs on defense, the intriguing question becomes how much GM Brett Veach is willing to spend addressing this problem. On February 4, he attacked the wide receiver issue with an underrated flyer on a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ fifth-round pick.
NFL insider Adam Schefter reported: “WR Justin Watson signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.”
Former Bucs’ WR Justin Watson signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, per source.
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High-Upside Addition Could Fill Offensive Void
Many times throughout his coaching career, Andy Reid has employed the vertical threat that can go up and snag the ball in the end zone. The Chiefs HC has utilized the backup tight end position for this role in the past with Demetrius Harris and Jody Fortson, or failed attempts like Ricky Seals-Jones.
To some extent, Sammy Watkins played this position better than anyone in recent years and Kansas City won a Super Bowl with him aiding the offense in 2019. Although there have been other wide receivers that have come and gone like Kelvin Benjamin and most recently, Josh Gordon.
The Chiefs decided to keep Gordon with the organization in 2022 despite him being a nonfactor this season, but his job is no longer guaranteed. Watson adds some competition on the outside and this signing is very intriguing for many reasons.
One, it’s cheap. Rather than spend cap space or top draft capital on an auxiliary weapon, Veach has elected to start the offseason with an upside-addition.
The 6-foot-3 Watson “ran a 4.4 forty and posted a 40″ vertical leap to wow teams at his pro day,” according to NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein in 2018. He dominated the Ivy League out of Penn, as a three-time first-team award winner in his conference.
#Buccaneers tie the game. Justin Watson gets it.
At the NFL level, Watson flashed with different quarterbacks during his four years with Tampa Bay but after a knee injury sidelined him in 2021, the Bucs decided to move on in January. From there, Veach was quick to snatch up the promising talent.
Watson’s best two seasons came back-to-back in 2019 and 2020 with Jameis Winston and Tom Brady at quarterback. He accumulated 253 yards over the two-year span (388 offensive snaps), with two touchdowns and 15 first downs.
It often felt like the Ivy League product was buried on the Buccaneers depth chart but with the Chiefs, Watson should get the opportunity to bounce-back and carve out an every-week role.
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Situation at WR Heading Into March
Veach and Reid have some decisions to make at wide receiver. As it stood before the Watson move, only Hill and Mecole Hardman were under contract on the active roster in 2022. The following players are currently free agents.
- Byron Pringle, unrestricted FA.
- Demarcus Robinson, unrestricted FA.
- Marcus Kemp, restricted FA.
- Jody Fortson (TE/WR), exclusive rights FA.
The Chiefs do have a long list of wide-outs signed to reserve/future contracts. They are: Gordon, Daurice Fountain, Cornell Powell, Gehrig Dieter, Gary Jennings, Omar Bayless, Chris Finke and Mathew Sexton.
So far, Veach has gone with the bargain route to correct this shortcoming. Maybe he’ll hit on the potential of a Watson-type or a lesser known commodity — or maybe the GM strikes out as he did with Gordon in 2021.
KC still has plenty of time to make a splash via free agency, trade or the draft, if they elect to allocate assets towards this area of the roster.