With plenty of young players to pay and only so much money with which to pay them, the Chiefs are having to make some hard choices -- and they’re losing some pieces in the process.
Offensively, they’ve seen starting center Mitch Morse and blocking tight end Demetrius Harris depart in free agency, for Buffalo and Cleveland respectively. Now, an underrated member of the passing attack has left for Jacksonville.
The Jaguars have announced the signing of former Chiefs receiver Chris Conley. He appeared in all 16 regular-season games last year, starting 13 of them. And he added 32 receptions for 334 yards and five touchdowns. (Conley had no catches in the playoffs, but he appeared in both games and was in the starting lineup for the AFC Championship.)
Conley had a keen understanding of how quarterback Patrick Mahomes plays the game, and Conley was on the receiving end of multiple special throws last year -- including the Week Three touchdown pass against the 49ers that saw Mahomes run 35.7 yards behind the line of scrimmage before zipping it to Conley and a lunging touchdown catch near the end of the half of an epic Week 11 game against the Rams.
In Jacksonville, Conley could become an instant starter in an offense that will feature Nick Foles at quarterback and DeDe Westbrook as one of the top options at wideout.