The Kansas City Chiefs have several veteran wide receivers that are set to hit the open market in free agency and according to veteran NFL reporter and Sportskeeda insider Tony Pauline, staff favorite Justin Watson is not expected to be re-signed.

“The Kansas City Chiefs are moving towards salary-cap hell and have some hard choices to make,” Pauline noted on February 28, reporting: “I’m told they’d like to bring receiver Justin Watson back, but they informed his agent they do not have the money to do so.”

In other words, unless Watson is willing to return for next to nothing in free agency, the Chiefs will allow him to test his market and most likely leave town — assuming there’s a suitor out there that is offering to pay the soon-to-be 29-year-old more than KC. And from the sound of it, general manager Brett Veach is not going to offer Watson much, if anything.

Watson won two Super Bowl rings with the Chiefs and a third with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he’s never registered more than 460 receiving yards in a single season. He consistently suits up for games due to his impact as a blocker and the fact that he contributes on special teams, leading to 59 appearances for Kansas City in three years (including playoffs).

Despite that, he’s only been credited with 21 KC starts.

Writing Is on the Wall for Chiefs WR Justin Watson Following Playoff Usage

Pauline’s report is not entirely unexpected, as Watson’s playoff usage hinted that the franchise would likely go in another direction in 2025.

After logging an offensive snap count of 20 or higher in every regular season game, Pro Football Focus listed the following snap counts for the three 2024-25 playoff outings: 4, 11 and 10.

Part of the reason for this was that Kansas City was healthier at the position during the postseason. Hollywood Brown joined midseason reinforcements like DeAndre Hopkins and Nikko Remigio, while the team still had Xavier Worthy and JuJu Smith-Schuster above Watson on the pecking order as well.

Although the under-the-radar wideout has been a favorite of head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes in recent years, it would make sense if there was a mutual parting of ways.

Watson should take the best offer he can get as he exits his prime, and the Chiefs would be wise to spend their money on other players and positions.

The Chiefs have a long list of free agents at the wide receiver position this spring, and most of them could be on their way out.

Veach expressed an interest in re-signing Brown publicly, but the future is less certain for UFAs Hopkins, Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and the aforementioned Watson.

Reid loves reuniting with offensive players that know his system, so it’s possible one or two of these players return on the cheap. Having said that, it’s also possible no more than one or zero are back by the time we reach training camp.

Brown could get a better offer elsewhere based on his potential, and after an injury-ruined season, would he take the highest amount of money he can get?

Hardman and Watson are unlikely to get anything more than a veteran minimum camp invite from KC — leading to their departures. And some believe the Chiefs will choose between re-signing either Hopkins or Smith-Schuster, since they play a very similar role at this stage of their respective careers.

One other potential departure within the Kansas City WR corps? Former second-round pass-catcher Skyy Moore. The Chiefs can save a little over $1.584 million if they release Moore, who’s entering the final year of his rookie contract.

To this point, the former Western Michigan product has been a total bust. So, it could make sense for KC to bite the bullet on this draft flop and shed some more cap space for an alternative roster move.