The NFL offseason is all but over for teams looking to improve their roster with the draft coming to an end a couple of weeks ago. The roster teams have are what they’ll roll with for the 2026 season, barring any trades before the NFL season.

For a team like the Kansas City Chiefs, 2025 wasn’t the season they anticipated, but it was clear the offense wasn’t as explosive as it had been. The unit had an explosive play rate of 5.2 percent and a points per drive average of 2.1. Both numbers were in the middle of the pack or the bottom of the league. The defense dealt with injuries throughout the season, but, like the offense, it wasn’t the same unit we were used to seeing under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The unit was still efficient, with a down-conversion rate of 69.7 percent, tied for the eighth-best in the NFL.

The Chiefs have been one of the more consistent teams in understanding their cap situation, knowing when to get rid of players earlier than anticipated. The team did exactly that, trading away All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams for draft capital in the 2026 draft. That wasn’t the only player they let leave the building. In free agency, the team let Isiah Pacheco, Hollywood Brown, Jawaan Taylor, Charles Omenihu, Derrick Nnadi, Leo Chenal, Jaylen Watson, and Bryan Cook find new teams this offseason.

Kansas City’s cap space currently sits at $6.1 million, indicating it couldn’t keep all its talent on the roster. The Chiefs did add Justin Fields, Kenneth Walker III, Tyquan Thornton, Khyiris Tonga, Kader Kohou, and Alohi Gilman in free agency to help fill in some needs and depth throughout the roster.

In the draft, the team added further talent to fit its defensive scheme: Peter Woods, R Mason Thomas, Mansoor Delane and Jadan Canady. Offensively, the team added high-upside players in Emmett Johnson, Cyrus Allen, Garrett Nussmeier and signed Jeff Caldwell as an undrafted free agent (Caldwell had a relative atheltic score of 10.00 during the draft process).

All these decisions are final under general manager Brett Veach, and looking at the roster alongside them raises looming questions for the roster heading into 2026.

What’s the health of Patrick Mahomes?

All these additions are nice, but if Patrick Mahomes isn’t fully healthy coming back from his torn ACL late in the 2025 season, then all the additions won’t matter. The team did bring in Fields and Nussmeier to strengthen its quarterback room in case Mahomes takes longer than anticipated, but neither can elevate the offense quite like he can.

Mahomes played in 14 games last year and finished with 3,587 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His pass rating was 89.6, which was the lowest of his career, excluding his rookie season, where he started one game for the Chiefs. The rating may have been down, but Mahomes still has all the talent in the world to elevate the offense and be the quarterback we’re used to seeing him be. That’s why his health is of utmost importance for the Chiefs.

According to head coach Andy Reid, Mahomes is on track to participate in some capacity in voluntary OTAs starting May 26th, and is on track to be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 season.

What’s the plan after Travis Kelce?

The question keeps getting bigger every NFL offseason. Will Travis Kelce retire? The Chiefs signed him to a three-year, $54 million deal, but in reality, it is a one-year, $12 million deal. The contract allows Kelce to decide whether to retire by June of next year.

Kansas City’s tight end room behind him is Noah Gray, Jared Wiley and Jake Briningstool. All are quality tight ends, but not talented enough to be the No. 1 option in a room. The team signed John Michael Gyllenborg as an undrafted free agent, and he has interesting upside at 6-foot-5 and 249 pounds. He ran a 4.6 40 at his size with a 35.5 vertical jump. He was second-team All-Mountain West in 2024, but after a leg injury in 2025, he didn’t look like the same athlete.

It’s a long shot, but Gyllenborg could find a role with the Chiefs long term if he shows the team the type of athlete he is throughout training camp. The future of Kelcis is growing slimmer by the day, giving the Chiefs less time to find a long-term replacement.

Is the defense ready for a playoff push?

With Spagnuolo calling the plays, the Chiefs’ defense will always have an aggressive mindset. The team’s blitz rate was the third highest in the NFL last season, blitzing the quaterback 34 percent of the time. The unit gave up 19.3 points per game last season, which ranked sixth in the NFL, but, as noted earlier, the team let go of a lot of talent and replaced it with younger bodies.

Mahomes has been a major factor in the Chiefs’ dynasty throughout the past 10 seasons, but the defense has been a major factor in those Super Bowl runs and wins. The front seven still has veterans throughout, including Chris Jones and Nick Bolton, who know what it takes to be part of those deep playoff runs. With new faces like Woods, Thomas and Delane — the question is, can those young players be ready fast enough to contribute at an elite level to help the Chiefs make a Super Bowl push?

The short answer is yes. Every player Kansas City drafted fits the type of scheme Spagnuolo wants to run, and they all showed the ability to take over games in college. It may take some time to adjust to the NFL, but with the coaching the Chiefs have, it shouldn’t take too long to get those players up to NFL speed.