Buzz Surrounding Laremy Tunsil and Chiefs Reportedly ‘More Than Rumors'
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The Kansas City Chiefs are signing offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor to a hefty four-year deal once the new league year begins on Wednesday but before that news was announced, the team was reportedly at least making an attempt to learn more about a possible high-profile trade with the Houston Texans.
According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston from Monday afternoon, Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil was discussed in trade talks with the Chiefs. The true extent of those talks is a bit unclear, as is Tunsil's official availability, but the reported interest on the Chiefs' side indicated at the time that the franchise was moving on from Orlando Brown Jr. Appearing on KPRC on Tuesday morning with Chancellor Johnson, Wilson doubled down on his previous report and declared that there was more to the buzz than some originally thought:
"More than rumors. It doesn't mean that they will actually have a deal, though. The two sides, I'm told, have spoken — Brett Veach and Nick Caserio — so they've had some conversations. Whether that culminates in a deal, we don't know, but they've had those kind of conversations. It's been explored."
Tunsil, who started his career with the Miami Dolphins before serving as a mainstay along Houston's offensive line for the past four seasons, turns 29 in August. The veteran is a three-time Pro Bowler who started all 17 games for the Texans in 2022 and surrendered just one sack and 17 pressures on the year. Additionally, Tunsil was Pro Football Focus' highest-graded offensive lineman in the league in their pass blocking metric. It was another outstanding season for the former first-round pick, and one that coincides with his prime as an athlete.
Tunsil has just one year left on his current contract, being accountable for a staggering $35.2 million cap hit in 2023 as the deal is constructed. He's eligible for an extension that would almost surely make him the highest-paid left tackle in all of football (and deservedly so), but reports of serious progress with the Texans have been nonexistent.
Given Taylor's manageable year-one cap hit of $5.825M, that provides Kansas City with a bit more added flexibility as the franchise proceeds this offseason. Finding a way to fit a player of Tunsil's caliber (and cost) into the picture, though, would require some additional calculus and a contract extension in the process. Wilson isn't completely sold on the idea of Taylor being moved to left tackle — a shift that would all but preclude a Tunsil trade from making sense — and he also had a bit of backstory on the Chiefs' efforts on the Tunsil front:
"The Chiefs, while they're saying that Jawaan Taylor is going to move from right tackle to left tackle and he's so athletic and can do it, we'll see. I think some of that stuff was to throw people off the sniff [of Tunsil]. I heard very authoritatively that the Chiefs were even talking to people that know Tunsil to try to get some kind of gauge for 'What's he all about? What's he like?' So they were doing their due diligence and doing homework on Laremy Tunsil, even the last few days."
In all reality, a Tunsil trade seems rather unlikely at this point. It appears that the Chiefs inquired about his availability before ultimately opting to sign Taylor, and that could effectively extinguish the possibility of talks advancing any further now. It's important to keep in mind that talks don't always signal notable progress, so both sides may have had considerable work to do even if Taylor was never brought in by Kansas City. A Tunsil trade would probably give Patrick Mahomes the best offensive line in the NFL, but don't count on it happening.
