KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Free agency in the NFL, especially in the opening week each year, often forces the most coveted players to start imagining themselves living in a different city, playing in a different uniform and performing in a different role.
Each spring, every team begins the free-agency period seeking to address its biggest roster needs, the positions so instrumental to winning that filling those job applications as soon as possible is paramount — even with the draft just a few weeks away.
Of course, the financial compensation is a major component for any such deal. Both parties — the player and the team — agreeing to a new partnership in hopes for success, though, can sometimes take ingenuity and foresight. As the league’s reigning champions, the Chiefs, with just a modest amount of salary-cap space, identified and signed Jawaan Taylor and Charles Omenihu earlier this week, two players expected to solve the team’s two biggest offseason positional needs: left tackle and pass rusher.
Taylor and Omenihu each acknowledged Thursday in their introductory news conference that they embraced the Chiefs’ sales pitch and contract offer because general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid were willing to present an opportunity to earn a significant raise while playing with an increased responsibility on the field.
“I’ve never lived outside of Florida ever in my life,” said Taylor, who is from Cocoa, Fla., starred in college at Florida and began his NFL career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Having the opportunity to come try something new and be (in) a great organization, I was all for it.”
Taylor, a four-year veteran at age 25, has also never played an entire NFL game at left tackle. That fact, however, will change in the upcoming season. Taylor signed a four-year contract worth $80 million, including $60 million guaranteed, with the Chiefs on Thursday to be their new left tackle, the player responsible for protecting the blind side of superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who at age 27 is the franchise’s greatest player.
“I feel I’m definitely athletic enough to make the switch over,” said Taylor, who was the Jaguars’ right tackle. “I’m very, very versatile, so I feel I can go out and make the switch pretty seamless. I’m just here to try to help this team win championships.”
Following Taylor, Omenihu entered the Chiefs’ training facility for the first time Thursday and signed his two-year, $16 million contract, which could increase to a maximum of $20 million through incentives. He’s the team’s newest pass rusher, a defensive end also capable of creating interior havoc.
“I think I’m a guy that can play the run on first or second down and play over tight ends and rush on the edge,” said Omenihu, a four-year veteran at age 25 who played last season with the San Francisco 49ers. “I’m going to play hard, and I want to stuff the run. When you play the run well, you’re going to have some fun rushing the quarterback.”
Similar to the past two offseasons, Veach and Reid have prioritized bolstering the Chiefs’ offensive and defensive lines.
Together, Veach and Reid decided that improving a championship roster for next season — and maintaining salary-cap flexibility for future seasons, throughout the prime of Mahomes’ career — meant replacing veteran contributors such as star left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and defensive end Frank Clark with Taylor and Omenihu, younger, ascending players who could generate better production for the Chiefs in 2023.
“Jawaan is a tough, athletic player that can play either side and gives us versatility along the line,” Veach said Thursday in a statement released through the team. “He has four years under his belt in this league and has continued to show steady growth and improvement each season. We’re happy to have him joining our offensive line room.”
Veach added of Omenihu: “Charles is coming off his best season as a pro and has a ton of upside. He was a part of a really good defense that had a lot of success last year, and his versatility to play all across the D-line will benefit us. He’ll be a solid addition for (defensive coordinator Steve) Spagnuolo and (defensive line coach) Joe Cullen.”
Ten days ago, Veach and Reid chose to not place the franchise tag on Brown for the second consecutive year. By deciding to not re-sign Brown — after months in which the two parties felt like they were miles apart on agreeing to a contract extension — the Chiefs wanted to acquire a veteran tackle who has the potential to be a better pass protector for Mahomes. On Monday, the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period, the Chiefs pursued Taylor, who is listed at 6 foot 5 and 312 pounds and had a pressure rate allowed of just 2.5 percent last season, the third lowest among qualified tackles.
When compared to a few other teams interested in signing Taylor, he explained that one of the Chiefs’ many advantages was the success Reid and offensive line coach Andy Heck had the past two seasons in furthering Brown’s development. Just days before the 2021 draft, Veach executed a blockbuster trade with the Baltimore Ravens to acquire Brown, who had spent most of his first three years in the league as a right tackle. Brown switched to left tackle and helped the Chiefs become champions in Super Bowl LVII, not surrendering a sack in the team’s three postseason victories.
“He’s a great player with great feet as well, very long and very versatile,” Taylor said of Brown. “Seeing guys like that be able to transition over is amazing to see, so it gives me a lot of encouragement and hope that I can do it, too.”
In addition to flipping his hips, footwork and hand placement at his new position, Taylor will also have to adjust his blocking to Mahomes’ playing style, which features elongated passing downs, creative movement within the pocket and improvisation when out of the pocket to create completions.
“I can tell already he’s a great leader,” Taylor said of Mahomes, the two chatting as teammates for the first time earlier this week. “I can’t wait to go out there and battle with him. I don’t feel like (Mahomes’ mobility) affects my job at all, honestly. If I have to hold my block longer, I have to do that. I know he can use his feet, too, if he needs to go out and create a play. I’m excited, honestly, to be able to play with a guy of his caliber and keep him upright.”
Part of Thursday’s gathering at the Chiefs’ facility felt like a mini-reunion for Omenihu. The first time Omenihu met Veach, Reid and Spagnuolo was at the league’s annual scouting combine in 2019. The formal interview went well, memorable enough that Omenihu thought a few weeks later that the Chiefs were going to select him in the draft. Instead, the Houston Texans acquired Omenihu with a fifth-round pick.
Following a 2021 trade to the 49ers, Omenihu generated career highs last season in sacks (4 1/2), pressures (21), quarterback hits (16) and tackles (20). Known for his quickness, strength and pass-rushing skills, Omenihu is projected to be a first-time starter for the Chiefs, a role the team believes can lead to him having even better statistics in 2023 while playing alongside superstar defensive tackle Chris Jones and sophomore defensive end George Karlaftis.
Listed at 6 foot 5 and 280 pounds, Omenihu also offers the versatility to rush opposing quarterbacks from the interior on third down, which he excelled in with the 49ers.
“I think my hand usage on the edge is decent,” Omenihu said. “I think it can get better, but I definitely know I can get an offensive lineman turned and then translate that get-off to power and put them in the quarterback’s lap. On the inside, I threaten guards pretty quickly and I think (my) hands inside are really good.”
In January, Omenihu was intrigued by the Chiefs defense when he watched the team’s blowout victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in the regular-season finale. The Chiefs collected six sacks and Omenihu noticed that Spagnuolo had his linemen switch positions on certain snaps to create advantageous matchups. Last season, Omenihu lined up outside the tackle on 364 snaps, directly over the tackle on 144 snaps and as a defensive tackle in 138 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Omenihu believes the next step in his career is him showing, with more snaps, that he can continue to develop into a complete pass rusher capable of collecting 10 or more sacks in a season.
“Having the chance to be a starter, I feel like I can more so set up guys so I don’t always have to go for the kill-shot rush,” he said. “I can really play the long game. Once you set guys up and keep them off-balance, that’s when I feel you can really dice people up and have multi-sack kind of games.”
