AP Draft Room: Breaking down the Chiefs’ latest free agent re-signings

Mar 25, 2023 - 2:00 PM

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The NFL offseason is in full swing. Each Friday, Arrowhead Pride’s “AP Draft Room” podcast drops a new episode that addresses prospects, team needs and other storylines for the Kansas City Chiefs’ draft season. I’m the emcee of the show, which rotates guests and co-hosts to bring some different perspectives.

On the latest episode, I brought on Arrowhead Pride senior contributor Matt Stagner to examine where the Chiefs stand as the dust settles on free agency. We talked through all the transactions in which Kansas City has been involved — and looked forward to what the team could still do this offseason.

This week, the Chiefs re-signed defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi and offensive lineman Nick Allegretti. We talked about their returns to the squad.

Derrick Nnadi

I was surprised to see the Chiefs bring back 2018’s 75th overall pick for his sixth season with the team. Nnadi has been the starting nose tackle for the majority of his career in Kansas City, but I believe his play dipped last season; I anticipated the team would look elsewhere.

But it’s hard to argue against signing a familiar player to a one-year, minimum-salary deal. The team needed bodies on the interior of the defensive front — and while Nnadi should provide competency as a depth player, I don’t think the team can just put him back into a starting position and call it good.

This move needs to be paired with one for another player who can compete for Nnadi’s role as the run-stuffing, early-down defensive tackle. That could be through another free-agency signing or a pick from April’s NFL Draft.

Nick Allegretti

Even though the starting interior offensive line is solid, the depth behind the team’s guards and center was limited until Kansas City re-signed the former Illinois standout.

After 12 starts over four seasons with a championship team, I was anticipating another team would give Allegretti a chance to start — or at least compete for a guard or center position. But the Chiefs brought him back on a unique deal that actually saves the Chiefs roughly $1.3 million in cap space.

His return solidifies the interior offensive line as one of the team’s strongest groups. Since there is turnover taking place at each end, it’s a positive sign for the interior to have strong continuity.

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