The Kansas City Chiefs made sure to keep its defense as strong as possible, in doing so, the franchise and veteran defensive tackle Mike Pennel reached a deal for Pennel to return to Kansas City for his fifth season with the program.
Pennel originally joined the Chiefs in 2019 and 2020, before returning to the franchise in 2023. Over the course of his time in Kansas City, the veteran defensive tackle has seen several injuries hold him back, but it was last season that Pennel showed his worth to the Chiefs’ defense.
In his first full season with the Chiefs, Pennel dropped 25 total tackles, 10 being solos, and collected a career high three quarterback sacks. Going into is age 34 season, Pennel has the chance to really showcase that he still has some gas left in the tank.
Over his Chiefs career, Pennel has recorded 82 total tackles, averaging 20.5 per season. The big man saw a ton of success when it came to his defense against the run game. According to PFF.com, the veteran ranked 17th in that category with a grade of 70.2, translating to above average.
Pennel has remained quite steady in his production over the course of his career, but he does get bitten by the injury bug from time to time. Seeing that he was able to perform in a full campaign for the first time since the 2022 season with the Chicago Bears, the return makes sense.
He is also an obvious fan favorite when looking at what the fans had to say when taking to social media.
The return does indeed boost the defensive line as the fans have stated. His massive presence and veteran leadership should only improve what the Chiefs continue to look to do on their pursuit back to the promise land: the playoffs.
“Overall, Pennel was a significant contributor to a Chiefs’ defense that ranked fourth in the league in scoring last season, and now re-signed, he’ll aim to pick right back up where he left off next season,” Chiefs reporter Matt McMullen wrote.
Perhaps Pennel could increase his starts from last season (seven) if he finds success early on into the new campaign.
