On the heels of being named the most valuable player of Super Bowl LX, Walker inked a lucrative three-year deal to lead Kansas City's backfield this coming season. Edholm notes that Walker earned a reputation as a run-first back during his four-year stint with Seattle, but the 2022 second-rounder — who logged 31 catches in 17 regular-season games in 2025 — has reportedly been spending time with QB Patrick Mahomes (who is bouncing back from a December ACL/LCL injury) this offseason in anticipation of a potentially expanded role as a pass catcher. "We've been working on getting connected in the passing game and everything, so that's good," Walker said. "I feel like I'll be used more in the pass game." Either way, as the clear-cut RB1 for his new team, Walker figures to be busy out of the gate this coming season while Mahomes works his way back to form. Competing for complementary work behind Walker will be a pair of newcomers in rookie Emmett Johnson and free agent addition Emari Demercado, as well as 2025 seventh-rounder Brashard Smith.

Loyd (6-foot-2, 196 pounds) inks with the Chiefs following a successful tryout at the team's rookie minicamp in late April. He appeared in 13 games with Missouri in 2025 and totaled two catches for 21 yards while handling a depth role. Loyd previously spent time at Illinois State in 2024 and at Kansas State from 2021-23.

The Chiefs almost completely remade their backfield compared to last season, letting Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco walk while retaining the 2025 seventh-round pick Smith, and signing Walker and Demercado before drafting Johnson in the fifth round. Kansas City also signed undrafted free agents Jaydn Ott and EJ Smith. Demercado and Brashard Smith both seem best suited for change-of-pace roles on passing downs, so Johnson could have a clear lane to getting the second-most carries behind Walker. Head coach Andy Reid compared Johnson's skill set to that of former NFL running back LeSean McCoy, who exceeded 1,000 regular-season rushing yards on six occasions.

Mahomes was present for the team's voluntary workouts in April but was still limited solely to rehabbing his surgically repaired ACL and LCL. He'll now progress to the next step in his rehab, as he'll participate in at least some capacity with his teammates during the team's voluntary offseason workouts. While that's a positive step, coach Andy Reid did acknowledge that Mahomes will remain limited. Both Mahomes and the Chiefs continue to publicly state that the goal is for Mahomes to be ready to suit up in Week 1.

Smith played four years at Stanford before transferring to Texas A&M for his final two seasons. The running back participated in 24 games for the Aggies, collecting 98 rush attempts for 412 yards and four touchdowns over the span. The Chiefs' offseason signing of Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker means they're set atop the depth chart, and Smith will therefore have to fight with multiple other options in training camp to try and garner a roster spot come final cuts.

Ott played three years at California before transferring to Oklahoma for his senior season. The running back suffered a shoulder issue entering the 2025 season that led to him seeing meaningful snaps in only two games. The Chiefs are likely taking a flyer on Ott due to his 2023 season at California, where he rushed 245 times for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns and added 26 receptions for 321 yards and three touchdowns. Ott's standout sophomore campaign suggests he has a shot to be a meaningful producer at the NFL level if he can avoid the injury bug.

Evans played at Penn State for three years before ending his collegiate career as a Washington Husky in 2025. The wide receiver had a down year in 2025, playing in 11 games and collecting 17 receptions for 254 yards and one touchdown. His best college season was in 2024, producing 415 yards and five touchdown grabs on just 21 receptions. Evans will have to compete with many other options in training camp as the Chiefs look to refortify their wide-receiver room ahead of the 2026 season.

De Jesus played two years at UNLV before transferring to California for the 2025 season. The wide receiver produced 108 receptions for 1,030 yards and six touchdowns over 13 games in 2025. De Jesus demonstrated the ability to handle high volume during his final college season, earning a look from a Chiefs team always looking to expand its wide-receiver options for Patrick Mahomes (knee).

There was a fair amount of mainstream media hype for Nussmeier to go on Day 2 of the draft, so for him to fall into the late seventh makes him a harmless, all-upside pick for the Chiefs. The Chiefs of course hope Nussmeier won't need to see the field right away, but all it might take is a good start or two to make Nussmeier a fought-over trade target a few years from now. In the meantime, the Chiefs will likely be happy if Nussmeier can merely stick on the roster as a backup — an outcome that was taken as a foregone conclusion by most draft observers as recently as the morning before the Chiefs picked him. Nussmeier (6-foot-2, 203 pounds) is smallish and struggled a concerning amount during his LSU career, including in his most recent season. Nussmeier's completion percentage was poor in his first four years — 64.2 as a fourth-year player was his career high to that point — and then in 2025 Nussmeier's YPA dropped to 6.7 yards. This is probably another Quinn Ewers sort of scenario.

Allen (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) led Cincinnati with 674 receiving yards while totaling a career-high 13 touchdowns across as many games in 2025, and he also logged stints at Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M during his collegiate career. He assisted his draft profile courtesy of a strong showing at the Senior Bowl and a solid showing at the NFL Combine (4.49-second 40-yard dash), but given that Nikko Remigio, Jalen Royals, Jason Brownlee, Jimmy Holiday and Andrew Armstrong are all also competing for depth opportunities behind starting wideouts Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton, Allen may have to show competence on special teams this offseason in order to earn a spot on the 53-man roster.

Canady (5-foot-10, 181 pounds) might primarily play slot corner for the Chiefs, but he might be more than that, too. Most recently a standout at Oregon, Canady spent the prior two years at Mississippi, redshirting the first after arriving from Tulane, where he was a true freshman starter but suffered a torn ACL and meniscus late into his sophomore year. Canady's knee has seemingly cooperated since then, and his pro day testing was just good enough (4.49 40, 37.5-inch vertical, 127-inch broad jump) to confirm that Canady's playmaking ability should withstand the jump to the NFL.

Thomas (6-foot-2, 241 pounds) is undersized in terms of both height and frame, but that didn't prevent him from tallying a combined 15.5 sacks across 23 appearances with Oklahoma over the last two seasons, earning first- and second-team All-SEC honors those years. George Karlaftis is established as a starter for Kansas City's pass rush, which veteran DT Chris Jones remains the anchor of, leaving Thomas in position to compete with 2025 third-rounder Ashton Gillotte and 2023 first-rounder Felix Anudike-Uzomah (hamstring) for snaps.

Woods (6-foot-3, 298 pounds) was a huge recruit for Clemson and provided quality play as a three-year starter, but it's difficult to find evidence of production and his ostensible utility as a two-gap run stuffer might not translate easily to the NFL given his light build, short arms and poor athletic testing. If Woods makes a positive impact with Kansas City it evidently might not show up in the box score, so he'll need to eat blocks.

Kansas City traded up from the ninth pick to snag the sixth choice from the Browns. Delane was evidently coveted by the Chiefs to the point that they could not bear to miss out on him, and that's not terribly shocking given that the Rams poached both of the Chiefs' prior starting corners — Trent McDuffie (trade) and Jaylen Watson (free agency) — earlier this offseason. Delane (6-feet, 182 pounds) initially built up his game at Virginia Tech, where he was a memorable true-freshman starter before transferring to LSU for his fourth collegiate season. With so much quality experience and production to go with his 4.38-second pro day 40, it's understandable why the Chiefs were determined to reel in Delane as their new CB1.

Remigio missed the last two games of the 2025 regular season due to a knee injury. Now healthy, the kick and punt returner is set to run it back with the Chiefs for the 2026 regular season. Remigio played in 14 regular-season games in 2025, totaling 741 kick-return yards and 191 punt-return yards.

Araiza is positioned to remain the Chiefs' punter for the 2026 campaign. He averaged 47.6 yards per punt in 2025 while suiting up for all 17 regular-season games.

Rice's 2025 campaign ended after Week 15 due to a concussion, capping him to a 53-571-5 line on 78 targets in eight regular-season appearances. In the meantime, allegations from his former girlfriend arose on Jan. 7, which was another in a series of off-the-field issues for the three-year pro, according to Charles Goldman of AtoZSports.com. After looking into the matter, the league won't levy any sort of punishment on Rice, citing "insufficient evidence," per NFL PR rep Brian McCarthy. Due to his production through three seasons, Rice is poised to be the Chiefs' No. 1 WR in 2026, but his rookie contract is up afterward, and how the team proceeds in this year's draft could be telling for his future in Kansas City for 2027 and beyond.

Elam, who played in 10 regular-season games with Dallas and four with Tennessee in 2025, brings depth and experience to a Kansas City cornerback corps that has seen Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson depart this offseason. The 24-year-old has 19 starts (including seven with the Cowboys last year) to his credit since being drafted by the Bills, 23rd overall, in the 2022 NFL Draft, and in his new locale, Elam figures to compete with Nohl Williams and Kristian Fulton for outside CB reps.

Kelce agreed to terms on a new contract with the Chiefs in early March and now officially re-ups with Kansas City, where he has spent his entire career since being selected by the team in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. The 36-year-old tight end has seen his production dip in recent years but nonetheless remains productive, having surpassed 800 receiving yards in both 2024 and 2025. His contract had previously been reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN as a one-year, $12 million deal worth up to $15 million, but Kelce and the Chiefs have instead negotiated a multi-year pact. As such, as long as Kelce opts to continue his playing career, he will be positioned to operate as a key cog on offense for QB Patrick Mahomes (knee).

The South Dakota product was a key special-teamer for the Chiefs last season, appearing in 17 games and recording 20 total tackles and one interception across 403 total snaps (341 on special teams, 62 on defense). Now back with Kansas City, Cochrane is expected to assume a similar role during the 2026 season.

Caliendo has played his first three seasons with the Chiefs and will return for at least one more. He made four starts among his 17 games last year and should serve as offensive line depth again in 2026.

The Chiefs have parted ways with Isiah Pacheco and look unlikely to bring back Kareem Hunt, but Walker's expected to handle the bulk of the rushing workload after signing a three-year contract with the team, leaving Smith and the newly signed Demercado to compete for change-of-pace duties. Smith had 44 carries for 151 yards while adding 25 catches for 172 yards and a touchdown on 35 targets in 2025, showing some promising pass catching skills as a rookie seventh-round pick.

The move helps Kansas City save $2.5 million in cap space, per Garafolo, who also said Tranquill could have been a cap casualty if not for this renegotiation. Tranquill finished with 103 tackles (55 solo), including 2.0 sacks, a pass breakup, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 2025.

Kansas City kicked off free agency by inking Super Bowl LX MVP and former Seahawk Kenneth Walker to lead the Chiefs backfield, and the addition of Demercado continues to the overhaul at the position. Demercado has racked up 126 carries for 819 yards (6.5 YPC) and three touchdowns and hauled in 50 of 70 targets for 324 yards and one more TD in 40 career regular-season games across three campaigns. He'll be in the mix for touches along with Brashard Smith behind Walker in 2026.