The Kansas City Chiefs will begin their organized team activities (OTAs) in a familiar position — as reigning Super Bowl champions. As Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes mount their title defense, the Chiefs will bring back much of the roster that helped guide them to the Lombardi Trophy last season. Let’s run through the major storylines from Kansas City’s OTAs as they begin the next portion of their offseason work.
2023 Kansas City Chiefs OTAs Preview
The Chiefs will enter the next phase of their offseason program with three OTA sessions — May 22-24, May 30-June 1, and June 6-9 — before concluding with a mandatory minicamp from June 13-15.
New Contracts for Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones
Kansas City’s OTAs will give the Chiefs a chance to get their entire team together for on-field work, but it will also allow the club’s decision-makers time to work on new deals for two of their best players: Mahomes and defensive tackle Chris Jones.
The Chiefs are expected to rework Mahomes’ contract to make him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. Mahomes ranked No. 1 at the position when he inked a $45 million per year extension in 2020, but he now lags behind six other signal-callers.
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The structure of Mahomes’ contract is team-friendly, with his rolling guarantees providing the Chiefs with optionality and flexibility each offseason. Whether or not K.C. will give Mahomes an all-new deal — or simply tweak his contract to make him the highest-paid QB on paper — is unclear.
Meanwhile, Jones could be set up for a record payday as he enters the final season of his contract. New pacts for Jeffery Simmons, Dexter Lawernce, Daron Payne, and Javon Hargrave have reset the defensive tackle market, and Jones reportedly wants to become “at least” the league’s second-highest-paid interior defender behind Aaron Donald. A four-year deal in the range of $25 million annually could be in the works.
Who Is the Chiefs’ No. 1 Wide Receiver?
Travis Kelce will always be Mahomes’ top target as long as he’s in Kansas City, but the Chiefs’ wide receiver corps will look different in 2023. K.C. allowed JuJu Smith-Schuster to sign with the Patriots in free agency and didn’t replace him with a veteran receiver, preferring to add SMU’s Rashee Rice in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Rice could emerge in his rookie campaign, but the Chiefs are seemingly relying on growth from Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore, who combined for 50 receptions, 421 yards, and two touchdowns in 23 games.
Kansas City is especially high on Toney, whom they acquired from the Giants for a third-round pick at last year’s trade deadline.
Mahomes can elevate his receivers, and both Toney and Moore flashed with dynamic contributions during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run. Both players have star potential, especially while catching passes from one of the greatest quarterbacks in league history.
Injury Updates on Mahomes, Isiah Pacheco, and Others
Mahomes suffered a significant ankle injury against the Jaguars in the Divisional Round, but the 27-year-old in April said he didn’t think “there will be any limitations on reps or anything like that” by the time OTAs rolled around.
“Now, it’s been more about just kind of managing it, but getting the mobility back as best I possibly can,” Mahomes said. “I wouldn’t say I’m 100%, but I’ve had no, necessarily, limitations. When you go through the grind of the week of training, you’re trying to push it and go through the rehab process. But at the same time, you want to make sure you’re still building.”
Meanwhile, running back Isiah Pacheco reportedly played through a torn labrum for most of his rookie season before suffering a broken hand in the AFC title game. He underwent surgeries for both injuries after the Super Bowl and is “coming along,” per Reid, but Pacheco might not see much work during OTAs.
After undergoing offseason thumb surgery, first-round edge rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah was limited through rookie minicamp. The Kansas State product wore a wrap on his hand during the Chiefs’ early May sessions, and Reid said K.C. will “just keep gradually bringing him back in.”
How Will K.C.’s Revamped Offensive Line Mesh?
After allowing Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie to walk in free agency, the Chiefs will be getting used to two new offensive tackles during OTAs and into the 2023 regular season.
Kansas City signed former Jaguar Jawaan Taylor with the intent of shifting him from right to left tackle. But the Chiefs later found a bargain by inking Donovan Smith to a one-year deal. Given that Taylor has played right tackle for his entire NFL career while Smith has resided on the blindside, K.C. has decided to deploy both players at their natural positions.
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“Yeah, so he’s been a left tackle at a high level,” Reid said of Smith earlier this month. “If you look at last year, he was hurt. And then, the year before that, he was one of the top-rated left tackles in the league. And we’ve had a chance to play against him a couple times, so you know I know seeing him firsthand there (that) he’s a good football player.”
