Tyreek Hill left the Kansas City Chiefs with massive shoes to fill in the WR department. The WR was responsible for causing an uptick in players leaving their teams for more lucrative offers when he chose the Dolphins over the Chiefs. While the discussion followed this line of thought, the hosts of First Things First show had an insightful debate as to why the Chiefs will fail to win the 3 Super Bowl in a row, bringing individual deals into the equation.

Very recently, Tom Brady came to the Colin Cowherd Show and rightfully pointed out that the Chiefs will have an extremely hard time winning the Super Bowl. While his perspective centered on the difficulty of the game mostly, Chris Broussard on the First Things First show pointed out another important reason for the same. Per him, what Tyreek Hill did, to up and grab a financially beneficial deal over sticking to one team, became a fad, and now not many players would want to choose just loyalty to a side.

“I do agree that the Chiefs have a great motivation, are greatly positioned and I think what helps them is Mahomes has Brady out there that he’s chasing. So, I think Mahomes is as motivated as you could possibly be. The challenge for him I think is going to be making sure the rest of the team is just as motivated,” said Broussard.

He further went on to say, “For Mahomes [winning the Super Bowl] is a legacy, right? For a guy that might have one already, maybe two, his main thing is, ‘Man I want to set myself up to get paid,’ like Tyreek Hill. He’s got a Super Bowl like he had to go get that money.”

Per Broussard, Hill’s hardly subtle exit from the side was a direct message to other players not to go underpaid. In a look at the historical understanding of the same, all this started in 1993 when the concept of free agency was first introduced in the NFL. Before that, the players were only concerned about the Lombardi trophy. But with the shift in the NFL arena, the sound of individual deals to be prioritized looked just as enticing.

A fine example of this is Odell Beckham Jr., who switched teams after helping the LA Rams win the Super Bowl. He signed a 1-year deal with the Rams for about $1.2 million and after winning the Lombardi, he moved to the Ravens where he inked a one-year deal with a potential to go as high as $18 million. In a similar spirit, the Miami Dolphins gave Tyreek Hill a deal he couldn’t refuse. He became one of the highest-paid WRs when he signed a 4-year $120 million deal with $72 million in guarantees. This year, Hill carries a cap hit of $31.3 million in Miami’s books.

This draws attention again to the current Chiefs members potentially following a similar path, if not faced with a mutually beneficial deal. Yet, the main question of the crisis remains the constant instability in the WR department of the Mahomes-led offense.

Patrick Mahomes to play in the absence of a difference-maker!

In a room filled with young receivers, Mahomes would potentially be reminded of the role Hill played by his side. In the 2019 Super Bowl season, which was not the most ideal season for Tyreek Hill, the WR came up with 860 yards and 7 touchdowns in the regular round. He had 105 yards in Super Bowl LIV with no touchdowns to show for and yet, he was a pivotal part of the Chiefs winning that game.

Hill’s last Super Bowl game was against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when the Chiefs lost 31-9, with the WR having covered 1,239 yards and 9 touchdowns in his whole season. On the current side, Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Marquise Brown are some of the receivers that are supposed to help Mahomes with his 3-peat dreams. Where on the one hand Worthy is a rookie, Brown didn’t get to taste much success with the Ravens and Cardinals.

In the last season, Rashee Rice had more yards and receptions than all of the wide receivers in the Kansas City Chiefs combined, securing 938 yards and 7 TDs. However, he is still on a rookie deal and has a great amount to learn before leading the side’s receivers department. Moreover, his recent off-field actions have been a tough pill to swallow for the team amidst high hopes from the youngster.

However, where eyes remain on the lack of experience in the WRs on the team, it also shifts toward the senior members the side boasts. Along with this comes the narrative of how loyalty to a team like Kansas City has often proven to be financially beneficial to the players. Taking Travis Kelce as an example, the football player became one of the highest-paid TEs in the league when he inked a contract extension worth up to $34.3 million for the next two years. The TE achieved the milestone at the age of 35, which is not so common in the field of football.

Chris Jones followed a similar narrative as he became the highest-paid DT after winning the Super Bowl when he inked a 5-year $158.7 million contract. This was after having a 10.5 sack season with 20 solo tackles. So what’s the commonality here? The Chiefs paid the players who had been impactful enough to get them a championship. If Hill would have played one more season with the team who knows what kind of a deal he could have signed?

The Chiefs secured all the core pieces around Mahomes but it came with a huge price tag and an extremely tough schedule ahead of the upcoming season. They will play 9 of their last 15 games on the road, which is very exhausting. The team also has games every single day of the week, except for Tuesday. Hence, no matter how good of a roster they have, the KC team is in for an uphill battle and they are still compensating for the wide receiver position. With that, how do you think the season of 2024 will look for the 2-times consecutive SB winners? Let us know your thoughts below!