After Super Bowl Loss, The Chiefs Turn Their Attention to 2025

By Brad Ziegler

Before the Super Bowl halftime show even started, Kansas City Chiefs fans were already thinking about next season and what the team needed to do differently to hoist the trophy in Santa Clara, California in 2026. The final 40-22 score only served to heighten their concern about the team’s ability to return to championship form.

After one of their most successful seasons in team history, where the Chiefs won 15 games in the regular season, received a first round playoff bye and hosted the AFC championship game, their 7th straight appearance, the team will waste little time bemoaning their lopsided Super Bowl loss to the Eagles. General Manager Brett Veatch and his staff have already begun the process of identifying free agents who could upgrade their lineup on both sides of the ball and potential draft picks that they might be able to add to make a quick impact.

The Chiefs go into the offseason with long term contracts that secure the core of their lineup, including one of the league’s top kickers, Harrison Butker, All-Pro offensive linemen

Joe Thuney and Creed Humphrey and defensive lineman Chris Jones, and future Hall of Fame quarterback Patrick Mahomes. If Travis Kelce returns for the last year of his contract, rising star Rashee Rice returns from injury in the form that he displayed at the beginning of 2024 and Xavier Worthy picks up where he left off during his tremendous run through the playoffs, Mahomes will have an array of receivers to choose from that he hasn’t enjoyed for the past few seasons.

Mahomes’ ability to utilize those receivers, and to be able to move the team beyond the dink and dunk offense that they resorted to this year, will likely depend on the team’s ability to retool the offensive line that was exposed by the aggressive four man rush of the Eagles in the Super Bowl. They will have to decide whether to stick with developing recent draft picks Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris at the key left tackle position or use their limited salary cap space to find a free agent veteran among an expensive field of options. The salary cap is also going to restrict the Chiefs’ ability to re-sign right guard Trey Smith, who is rated as one of the top 2025 free agents at any position and is sure to command a large contract.

Veatch and his team will likely be looking for more affordable offensive line options in the upcoming draft, but potential free agent losses in the defensive line, where Derrick Nnadi, Charles Omenihu, Mike Pennel and Tershawn Wharton are all able to test the market, could also leave voids that will also need to be filled by free agents or draftees.

Linebacker Nick Bolton, the team’s quarterback on defense, is one of the top-rated free agents at his position, and unless the Chiefs decide to use the franchise tag to retain him, it is possible that the popular University of Missouri graduate will not be back with the team next season. Safety Justin Reid is another key starter who has helped the team win two Super Bowl rings over the last three seasons, but whose time in Kansas City may have come to an end.

It seems doubtful that many, if any, of the team’s early or mid-season additions, such as DeAndre Hopkins, Kareem Hunt, JuJu Smith-Schuster, DJ Humphrey, Joshua Uche, or Samaje Perine, will back in 2025, but almost all of them played a key role at some point this season and filled spots that someone else will need to fill in 2025. Wide receiver Marquise Brown didn’t get the chance to show that he is worth a long term contract due to his injury in the opening game of the pre-season that wiped out most of his regular season. He may be available for another one year contract, however, and could help lessen the impact of a likely suspension of Rashee Rice for several games in 2025.

The Chiefs’ recent string of playoff success means that, even with first round byes in two of the past three seasons, they have played 61 games over that time, more than any other team in the NFL. While the extra games are a bonus for their fans, they can take a physical and mental toll on the players. Losing in the Super Bowl does mean that they won’t be on the post-season whirlwind tour of Disney World, home town parades, television show appearances and other interruptions of off-season recovery that Super Bowl winners are subject to after winning the big game. However, the turnaround before their 2025 training camp will once again be short for the players, coaches and the front office staff that is tasked with reloading the roster.

The Chiefs’ AFC West opponents are likely to be even more competitive next season, and they also have games against the Bills, Ravens, Texans, Commanders, Eagles and Lions on their schedule, making it a challenge to make next year’s AFC playoffs another edition of the Arrowhead Invitational. They will not only need an effective offseason for the team’s front office, but better fortune on the injury front than they had in 2024 and another dose of the late game heroics and good fortune that propelled them to the top spot in the AFC this season.

Past history seems to be the best indicator of future results, however, and the oddsmakers have already given the Chiefs the best odds of returning to Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026, counting on Coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes to be successful with however the roster evolves.