The Kansas City Chiefs were able to win the Super Bowl for the second straight year despite some shortcomings with their roster. One of those shortcomings was at wide receiver.
The Chiefs lost JuJu Smith-Schuster in free agency in 2023 and were hopeful some of their young talent would step up in his place. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Kansas City received very little production from Kadarius Toney or Skyy Moore. Fortunately, Rashee Rice emerged as a reliable weapon during his rookie season behind star tight end Travis Kelce.
Heading into the 2024 offseason, the Chiefs knew something had to be done at wide receiver. The future of Rice is up in the air as he awaits discipline from the league for off-the-field incidents during the offseason.
The team lost veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling, making the void even bigger to overcome. Not wanting to have to rely on Toney and Moore to play major roles, the team was aggressive in finding upgrades.
In the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, they selected Texas speedster Xavier Worthy. But, it was in free agency where they found their biggest steal.
Kansas City agreed to a one-year, $7 million deal with Marquise Brown. A former first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens, he spent the last two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals before hitting free agency.
Given his pedigree and production to this point, it was shocking to see him agree to a one-year deal with the Chiefs. Over at Bleacher Report, that bargain contract has landed him on Alex Kay’s list of the most team-friendly in the NFL in 2024.
“While Brown is coming off a rocky two-year tenure with the Arizona Cardinals—the team the Baltimore Ravens traded him to after he posted his first and, so far, only 1,000-yard receiving campaign—he looks poised to re-emerge as one of the league’s top pass-catching talents and parlay that into a huge contract next spring.
Brown should follow in Smith-Schuster’s footsteps, returning an immense amount of value on what will likely be a one-year, $11 million contract before going on to net a long-term deal from a more cap-flush squad in 2025,” Kay wrote.
Brown’s deal with the Chiefs came in at No. 3. Ahead of him on the list is Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert and his new quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
No matter how much the Chiefs pay Mahomes, he will present the team with value; that is how good he is. Catching passes from him should result in big numbers for Brown, who will be in line to receive a lucrative contract in 2025.
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