KC Chiefs Free Agency: Examining WR Mike Williams and Hunter Renfrow's Fit in KC
Two AFC West teams released wide receivers to kick off the new league year, with the Las Vegas Raiders walking away from shifty chain-moving receiver Hunter Renfrow and the Los Angeles Chargers releasing former No. 7 overall draft pick Mike Williams to avoid his $32 million cap hit set for 2024. Would either of those former divisional rivals be a good fit for the Kansas City Chiefs? Arrowhead Report's Jordan Foote and I discuss the fits for Renfrow and Williams as we wait for news about KC's pass-catchers.
Jordan Foote: Let's start with Renfrow. Similar to some wide receivers the Chiefs have actually been linked to this offseason, he's a couple of years removed from his best season. At age 26 back in 2021, he put up a 1,000-yard campaign and scored a career-high nine touchdowns but hasn't come close to sniffing those numbers in 27 games combined ever since. There's also the worry that he's too slot-dependent. Do you worry about him maybe not being worth the squeeze or possibly limiting the Chiefs' wideout versatility at all?
Joshua Brisco: The Chiefs' wide receiver room is currently comprised of Rashee Rice, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney — I'm going stir-crazy. Renfrow is a wide receiver, right? Sign him. (I'm kidding. …Mostly?) As we've talked about before, the reason a player like Hollywood Brown is so enticing is because he feels like a true counterpunch to the things Rice already does well. The Chiefs certainly shouldn't let Moore or Toney prevent them from upgrading the WR depth chart, and at age 28 and after a severe production drop-off since 2021, Renfrow should be looking for a cheap "prove-it" deal to get back on track in the right situation. I wouldn't have a problem with him landing in KC, but he wouldn't be the WR1/WR2 solution they've been searching for, either by recent production or by the way the Chiefs would use him out of the slot. He could be useful without being the final answer.
Foote: I think I'm on board with all of that. Shifting gears to a completely different player... Mike Williams? His 2022 season saw him suffer an ankle injury twice, and then his 2023 was cut short by a torn ACL. He'll be 30 in October. Now that the bad's out of the way, though, there's a lot to like about Williams. He looked genuinely good last season before his injury, and his yards per route run over the last three years have all hovered around 2.0. His average depth of target is always in the double-digits. He's a big-bodied target who can (and should) play on the outside and compete in contested catch situations. He'd be something different than what the Chiefs typically value but, like you said with Brown, that "counterpunch" is so enticing. Thoughts on Williams, and do you have any idea what his market could be?
Brisco: Williams's injury history is so well-known that I think some Chiefs fans are writing him off way too quickly. Those injuries over the last two seasons are why he's available now, and it will be the reason his price point is going to be reasonable. Of course his age and injury history are part of the risk, but I'd imagine he gets a strong one-year deal (maybe guaranteeing $6-8 million with incentives to get up to $10 million or so) from someone on the back of his performances that led the Chargers to give him that original payday. The interesting part for me is that he's absolutely unlike any heavily used receiver the Chiefs currently have on the roster — really, different than any receiver Patrick Mahomes has had in KC — but is that a choice or an issue of circumstance? If you were excited about 6-foot-4 Justyn Ross, then the 6-foot-4 Williams should electrify you. If Ross's fit (along with his own injury troubles and lacking Williams's production) didn't make sense, Williams might not either. Williams is the rare case where I'd be excited if the Chiefs made the move because they'd have plans for Mahomes to maximize a big-bodied outside receiver, but I wouldn't be too disappointed if they let him land elsewhere as long as money eventually gets spent on the receiver room.
