The Kansas City Chiefs clearly need to provide Patrick Mahomes with some help heading into 2025, and in multiple aspects.
They definitely need to get him some more weapons, as it is becoming increasingly obvious that the Chiefs can’t continue skating by without a true No. 1 receiver.
Not only that, but Kansas City must supply him with more protection in the trenches. The Chiefs’ offensive line was a problem all season long, and it manifested in a big way in the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately, Kansas City does not have a ton of cap space, and in order to create some wiggle room, it had to trade one of its best offensive linemen in Joe Thuney.
The Chiefs are expected to address their shaky offensive line in free agency, and Baltimore Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley has emerged as a very obvious target.
In fact, Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus has identified Stanley as the “perfect” match for Kansas City in NFL free agency.
“Four Chiefs got a crack at starting at left tackle this past year, and none recorded a PFF overall grade above 65.7. Kansas City would be smart to acquire a proven tackle who meshes with Patrick Mahomes’ elongated play style,” Locker wrote. “Since 2022, nobody has thrown more passes while holding onto the ball for 2.5 seconds or longer than Mahomes — and in that span, Stanley’s 77.3 PFF pass-blocking grade ranks 17th among qualified tackles.”
The left tackle position was certainly a revolving door for the Chiefs in 2024, and not one of their candidates performed particularly well at the position. Enter Stanley, who is now clearly the best tackle on the market with Alaric Jackson re-signing with the Los Angeles Rams.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Stanley is terrific when healthy, but that’s just the problem: he has a whole lot of trouble staying on the field. In fact, 2024 marked the first time he played a full season since entering the league in 2016.
Since 2020, the 30-year-old has appeared in just 48 of a possible 84 games, so that is definitely something for Kansas City to consider when deciding how much to pay Stanley.
However, the Chiefs are desperate to solidify their offensive line, so they may be forced to cough up some big bucks for Stanley regardless of his medical history.
