Getty Kansas City Chiefs long snapper James Winchester (#41),
The Kansas City Chiefs began the legal tampering period of free agency on March 11 by agreeing to terms on a new deal with long snapper James Winchester. Chiefs Digest’s Matt Derrick was the first to report the agreement.
Chiefs have agreed to terms on a new contract for long snapper James Winchester, per source. Terms not yet available.
The ultra reliable Winchester, who hasn’t missed a game in his career, will be back for season No. 10 in Kansas City.
The deal is for one year and is worth $1.3 million, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston.
Winchester, 34, has been with the Chiefs since 2015 and hasn’t missed a game during his 10 seasons in Kansas City.
As a player that has been very reliable at an under-the-radar position, it makes plenty of sense that the Chiefs opted to retain Winchester, who will likely finish out his career in Kansas City now.
Twitter/X Reacts to Chiefs Re-Signing James Winchester
Users on X, formerly Twitter, reacted to Kansas City re-signing Winchester.
“Terms (of the deal) will be interesting. If it is a one-year deal, I suspect it will be propped up with some four-year qualifier funds to save cap room,” Jared Sapp of Arrowhead Pride wrote.
“The Chiefs have had two long snappers during my lifetime- James Winchester and Kendall Gammon. I won’t acknowledge anyone else,” another user wrote.
“Thank goodness this is settled so (Chiefs special teams coordinator) Dave Toub can sleep at night for the next 6 months,” another user wrote.
Brett Veach Talks WRs at NFL Combine
One of the positions of need for the Chiefs this offseason is wide receiver. That’s why, when speaking to the media at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, general manager Brett Veach acknowledged that Kansas City will look to upgrade at WR, be it via free agency and/or the draft.
“I think much like any position we’re always looking to get better. Whether it be receiver, O-line, D-line, DBs any opportunity we can to make our team better, we’re going to do that,” Veach explained on February 27. “We put a high priority on the depth in our roster, so we’ll attack that much like we do all positions and try to get the very best players we can. Go through our process, every team’s process is a little bit different and unique. We have ours and there’s always a chance to refine and tune things.
“Again, I think in this league because of such a long season – I’m talking a 20-game season, it’s a marathon, you have to attack every position with a mindset of having that depth because it’s not a matter of if, but when, players go down,” Veach continued.
Veach also discussed the development of Rashee Rice and how he was able to shatter the stigma of rookie receivers not performing well in Kansas City.
“It’s a little bit different in our offense, there’s a lot of verbiage, a lot of dialogue. You’re always going to have a coaching staff that puts a ton of pressure on young players to come in and perform,” Veach said. “Our situation is a little unique where you have a coaching staff and a quarterback that puts a lot of pressure for the players to come in and perform right away. Credit to Rashee (Rice), it just speaks to him and his resilience. It was a lot early on and our coaches just did a great job of pacing him.
“I know early on you see the flashes and you want more, more, more, but there was a plan there was a vision and these things take time,” Veach continued. “Sometimes they don’t happen as soon as you want, and it takes some time. I think with Rashee, he was determined to make it happen this year and to keep working. He did a great job, certainly credit to him and the work he put in off the field, with the playbook, and with our coaches after practice.”