Getty Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt (left) and general manager Brett Veach (right).
The Kansas City Chiefs experienced some significant turnover at several key positions this offseason. But Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine believes the defending Super Bowl champions signing offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor to an $80 million deal wasn’t just one of the team’s worst moves, but one of the worst moves in the NFL this offseason.
Ballentine believes Kansas City overpaid for Taylor, who won’t live up to his four-year, $80 million simply because he likely will be staying at right tackle instead of switching to left tackle. That’s why he ranked the Taylor signing as the fifth-worst offseason move in the NFL.
“According to Spotrac, Lane Johnson is the only right tackle who tops the $20 million annual average value that Taylor’s four-year, $80 million contract will pay him,” Ballentine wrote on May 14.
“It’s a move that certainly doesn’t represent good value and is hard to make sense of.
“Taylor certainly has some upside. He’s only 25 years old, has 35″ arms to go with a 6’5″, 312-pound frame and enough athleticism to believe that he hasn’t hit his ceiling yet,” Ballentine continued.
“He’s going to have to find that ceiling in a hurry, though, to be worth the money the Chiefs are paying him.”
Donovan Smith Signing Changed Chiefs’ Plans
After the Chiefs signed Jawaan Taylor to an $80 million deal in March, Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star reported that Kansas City believes Taylor is athletic enough to make the transition to left tackle. “Will wait to see how the next few days/weeks shake out, but anticipate him on the left side,” McDowell wrote of Taylor on March 13.
Despite the previous intention to move Taylor to the opposite side of the offensive line, the Chiefs can now keep him at right tackle, where he’s more used to playing, and instead can plug an eight-year NFL veteran in Donovan Smith at left tackle to replace Orlando Brown Jr.
Kansas City signed Smith to a one-year, $3 million deal on May 3. Smith has 124 career starts in the NFL at left tackle — all of which were with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after rookie minicamp that Smith will “probably” be plugged in as the starting left tackle to start his tenure in Kansas City. So, that means Taylor will slot in as the team’s starting right tackle, which is the position he has been playing since he entered the NFL in 2019.
“He’s been a left tackle at a high level,” Reid said of Smith on May 8 via Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride. “Last year (2022), he was hurt. The year before that (2021), he was one of the top-graded left tackles in the league, and we’ve had a chance to play against him a couple of times. I’ve seen him firsthand there. Good football player.”
Brett Veach Speaks Highly of Jawaan Taylor’s Athleticism
Speaking to the media prior to the 2023 NFL Draft, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach was asked about the team signing Jawaan Taylor and spoke highly of his athleticism, which could potentially help him switch positions if needed.
“(Jawaan Taylor’s) a really, really athletic player. As we all know, he played right tackle at Florida, predominantly – he had some snaps at left tackle (but) played right tackle in the NFL,” Veach said during his April 20 press conference.
“But he’s a guy athletically – I mean he’s long, quick feet, a really, really efficient pass protector and I think it wasn’t a secret that once free agency started, a tackle was at the top of that list and I think we have great flexibility with him. He certainly wants the opportunity to play left, but if we were to draft a left tackle, I mean, we know what Jawaan’s tape looks like at right tackle, so (we were) excited to get him.”