2-Time Pro Bowler With 100 Career Sacks Open to Rejoining Chiefs

Getty Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Carlos Dunlap.

Free agent defensive end Carlos Dunlap, who played for the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2022 season, remains unsigned as the NFL heads into summer break. While it’s unknown where he will play in 2023 — if he does play at all — Dunlap, 34, has made it known there’s at least one team he’s willing to play for:

The Chiefs, of course.

Speaking to Jeff Fedotin of Forbes, Dunlap expressed interest in rejoining the defending Super Bowl champions.

“The Chiefs obviously have a special spot for me because they were the first team to help me win a playoff game and to win a Super Bowl,” Dunlap told Fedotin on June 20. “So that would be a great opportunity.”

Carlos Dunlap a Tenured NFL Veteran

Carlos Dunlap, 33, entered the league as a second-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010. He went on to play 10 full seasons for the Bengals, registering 82.5 sacks, 227 quarterback hits and 103 tackles for loss.

After being traded to the Seattle Seahawks on October 29, 2021, Dunlap signed a one-year deal worth up to $8 million with the Chiefs during the 2022 offseason.

As a rotational piece of Kansas City’s defense, Dunlap played in all 17 regular season games for the Chiefs during the 2022 season and registered 12 quarterback hits, 6 tackles for loss and 4 sacks while playing 50% of the team’s defensive snaps. During the team’s recent Super Bowl run he played in all three playoff games and had 4 quarterback hits and 2 tackles.

As it stands, Kansas City’s defensive end room consists of George Karlaftis, Charles Omenihu, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Mike Danna, Joshua Kaindoh, Malik Herring, BJ Thompson, and Truman Jones.

Though running it back with Dunlap would be a great re-addition for Kansas City’s defensive line, the team would need to free up some cap space first. According to Over the Cap’s effective cap space (the cap space a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected rookie class to its roster), the Chiefs currently have $652,557 in cap space.

Chiefs 2023 Free Agency Tracker

Here is a list of the players the Chiefs have signed during free agency thus far (excluding undrafted rookies), along with their contracts according to Over the Cap:

• OT Jawaan Taylor (4 years, $80 million)
• DE Charles Omenihu (2 years, $20 million)
• S Mike Edwards (1 year, $3 million)
• LB Drue Tranquill (1 year, $5 million)
• DT Tershawn Wharton (1 year, $2 million)
• OL Nick Allegretti (1 year, $2.5 million)
• OL Prince Tea Wanogho (tendered)
• TE Jody Fortson (tendered)
• QB Shane Buechele (tendered)
• DT Derrick Nnadi (1 year, $1.2 million)
• TE Blake Bell (1 year, $1.1 million)
• DT Byron Cowart (1 year, $1.08 million)
• DT Phil Hoskins (1 year, $940,000)
• S Deon Bush (1 year, $1.3 million)
• WR Richie James (1 year, $1.2 million)
• WR Justin Watson (2 years, $3.5 million)
• QB Blaine Gabbert (1 year, $1.1 million)
• RB Jerick McKinnon (1 year, $1.16 million)
• OT Donovan Smith (1 year, $3 million)
• OT Sebastian Gutierrez (1 year, $870,000)
• CB Lamar Jackson (1 year, $940,000)
• DT Matt Dickerson (1 year, $1.08 million)
• DT Chris Williams, (1 year, $940,000)
• WR Kekoa Crawford

Here are the former Chiefs players that remain free agents:

• DE Carlos Dunlap
• DT Brandon Williams
• LB Darius Harris