6 pending free agents the Kansas City Chiefs must re-sign, and 6 they should let walk during 2025 offseason…

The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of difficult decisions to make, not just about free agents from around the league, but with their own. They have multiple starters set to hit the market, as well as some key rotational players.

Kansas City currently has $15,741,005 million in salary cap space, but that is fluid depending on the decisions it makes. Star tight end Travis Kelce’s looming retirement decision will also have a big impact on its approach.

Let’s take a look at the six pending free agents we’ve determined the Chiefs should re-sign, and six that they should let walk during the offseason.

LB Nick Bolton

Bolton is one of the most polarizing players on the roster. Whether you think he’s great or overrated, the Chiefs’ coaching staff has consistently had nothing but praise for the four-year veteran, often referring to him as the quarterback of the defense.

The Chiefs have a solid LB corpse with Bolton, Drue Tranquill, and Leo Chenal, but not a lot of quality depth behind them. Bolton has recorded over 100 tackles three times in his career, with five sacks, four interceptions, 15 passes defensed, and two forced fumbles.

DT Charles Omenihu

Omenihu produced mixed results in 2024, but remember that he was coming off a torn ACL that cost him the first 11 games of the season. He recorded one sack and four QB pressures in six games played, but also helped open things up for other pass rushers such as Chris Jones and George Karlaftis.

Omenihu shouldn’t be expensive to retain, and is a good candidate for a one-year deal in which he can bounce back and command a better contract next year. With a healthy offseason under his belt, Omenihu could return to being more of a consistent force like he was in 2023.

LT D.J. Humphries

Humphries could never get going with the Chiefs after joining them late in the season and injuring his hamstring during his first game with the team. By the time he got healthy, the regular season was coming to an end and K.C. opted to stick with Joe Thuney to hold down LT.

Thuney will return to his natural position of left guard next season, making LT a huge need. The Chiefs could bring Humphries back for cheap and give him the opportunity to show that he can still play at a high level when healthy and having a full offseason to be prepared. Humphries shouldn’t be the sole solution for K.C. at LT, but it’s a start.

DT Tershawn Wharton

Wharton is coming off the best season of his career, setting new highs in sacks with 6.5, 23 QB pressures, 29 total tackles, one forced fumble, and two passes defensed. He has been a great rotational player since the Chiefs drafted him in 2020.

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo values getting pressure on the QB from up the middle, so brining back Wharton along with Omenihu to pair with Chris Jones would give them a tremendous trio of DTs to work with.

WR Hollywood Brown

Brown was poised to play a large role in the Chiefs’ passing game in 2024 before a shoulder injury cost him the first 15 weeks of regular season. He looked good when he returned, catching nine passes for 91 yards in two games played.

RG Trey Smith

This is a painful one. Smith is one of the best interior offensive linemen in the league, and losing him creates another hole in the O-line. However, because he’s one of the best, he’s going to get top dollar on the market.

K.C. has already invested a lot of money into Thuney, center Creed Humphrey, and right tackle Jawaan Taylor, and has many other roster needs to address. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the Chiefs are going to be able to outbid other teams to retain Smith.

S Justin Reid

This is another tough one to swallow. Reid has been an unsung hero for the defense since arriving back in 2022, recording 265 total tackles, three interceptions, 23 passes defensed, four sacks, and one forced fumble.

However, like with Smith, Reid’s value may be a little too rich for K.C., especially if they choose to re-sign Bolton. On the bright side, Jaden Hicks had a very good rookie season as he led the team in interceptions with four. Hicks should be ready to step into a starting role next season, and he and Bryan Cook would make a fine tandem.

RB Kareem Hunt

It was fun to see Hunt reunite with the Chiefs this past season, as he racked up 728 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. He was the team’s best running back even when starter Isiah Pacheco returned from injury.

Despite that, Hunt still didn’t have a ton of explosion as a runner, and will hit the dreaded age of 30 before the start of next season. K.C. needs somebody more explosive to share the load with Pacheco next season, and possibly to replace Pacheco in 2026.

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster

The same scenario with Hopkins also pretty much applies to Smith-Schuster. The Chiefs brough him back when Brown went down, but Smith-Schuster only had one game in which he caught more than two passes. He missed six games with a hamstring injury, and has an extensive injury history in general.

DT Derrick Nnadi

The seven-year veteran was a rotational player for the Chiefs this season, recording just 11 total tackles. Nnadi is basically a space eater at this stage of his career, making an occasional tackle for loss and providing virtually no pass rush. He has signed one-year contracts with K.C. each of the last three years, but it’s time for both sides to move on.