Five Chiefs Heading Into Contract Years That Could Shape the Roster's Future and 2026 Success
From the wide receiver the offense cannot afford to lose to the hometown kid with one last chance to prove himself, these are the players with the most at stake in 2026.
Every NFL offseason brings a fresh set of contract questions, and the Chiefs are no exception. While Kansas City’s core is largely locked in through the back half of the decade, a handful of players will be auditioning for their next deal in 2026.
The outcomes of these key pieces could have real consequences for how this roster is built going forward, as well as the outlook on the rest of their careers.
Here is a look at the five most notable pending free agents with something significant to prove.
Rashee Rice, Wide Receiver
The successes and failures of Rashee Rice in 2026 are likely to swing the pendulum of the Chiefs’ on-field success more than any other player on this list. At his best, he is a legitimate wide receiver one. At worst, he is a high-end number two.
The biggest question surrounding Rice has always been whether he can stay on the field, and his career has been hampered by both suspensions and injuries at every turn.
Without him, Kansas City is left with Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton as its top two receivers, which is a significant drop-off. With him, head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy have a receiver who has averaged over six catches and 70 yards per game over the past two seasons, albeit on a 12-game sample size.
Extrapolated over a full 17-game season, that pace translates to 109 catches and 1,217 yards. That is the receiver this offense badly needs, and at just 27 years old and on a $1.6 million base salary, a productive 2026 would put him in line for a significant payday.
If he can stay healthy, stay out of trouble, and deliver that kind of production, there will be no shortage of teams lining up to offer him a sizeable contract, even with all the headaches he brings. The question, as it has always been with Rice, is whether all of those things can happen at the same time.
Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Edge Rusher
What is done is done for Felix Anudike-Uzomah. The hometown kid was drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, which was hosted in Kansas City, and to say the results have been disappointing would be putting it mildly.
Over his first two seasons, the former Kansas State Wildcat and Lee’s Summit High School product recorded just three sacks and 25 pressures. His 2025 season ended before it started after a preseason hamstring injury.
That said, the opportunity is still there. George Karlaftis and Ashton Gillotte project as the starters at edge rusher, with 2026 second-round pick R Mason Thomas behind them. Thomas is not believed to be an every-down player at this point either.
Anudike-Uzomah is the logical candidate to fill the third or fourth defensive end role, which typically carries plenty of runway in Spagnuolo’s rotation. That speaks to how thin the position is currently.
It is not as if the 2023 46th-ranked consensus board player is void of e talent, either. He basically earned his 20.5 sacks across two seasons played of Big 12 football in 2021 and 2022. Had the Chiefs not selected him in round one, he would have been a high second-round pick.
At just 25 years old, the physical tools that made him an attractive prospect have not disappeared. 2026 will determine whether he has a place in the NFL in 2027, but regardless of how it plays out, it almost certainly will not be with the Chiefs.
Kristian Fulton, Cornerback
Kristian Fulton enters 2026 in a position all too familiar to him at this stage of his career: needing to prove he can stay healthy for a full season. After living up to his second-round pedigree out of LSU with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024 and parlaying it into a two-year, $20 million deal with the Chiefs, 2025 was a disaster.
He played just eight games and accumulated 208 snaps, the fewest of his career outside of his rookie season. Once the season was lost down the stretch, Spagnuolo turned him into a full-time player, and he showed enough to convince Kansas City not to save $5 million in cap space by releasing him.
Fulton is most likely the team’s third outside corner behind Mansoor Delane and Nohl Williams, unless L’Jarius Sneed overtakes him for that role. A healthy, productive 2026 earns him a decent new contract somewhere.
Drue Tranquill, Linebacker
Drue Tranquill could have easily played his last snap in a Chiefs uniform after 2025, but this offseason he agreed to take a pay cut to remain with the team. It was an admirable decision and is reminiscent of how he has played on the field and led his teammates off of it throughout his time in Kansas City.
At 32, he is not quite the spark plug who helped fuel the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII run. The former collegiate safety no longer covers backs and tight ends the way he once did.
What he does do is play sound, reliable football. He ranked sixth among all linebackers against the run in 2025 according to PFF, collected 80 solo tackles, and finished fourth in missed tackles. Those are not flashy numbers, but they are the numbers of a player who still has a role on a championship-caliber defense.
The longer-term question is how Tranquill fits into the picture as Jeffrey Bassa, the Chiefs’ 2025 draft pick and his heir apparent at weakside linebacker, continues to develop. With Leo Chenal now in Washington, the deployment of both players will be worth watching closely throughout camp and the preseason.
Tranquill seems like the kind of veteran who keeps taking one-year deals to stay with a contender, and as long as he can still contribute at that level, there is a place for him here.
Chamarri Conner, Safety
Aside from Rice, Chamarri Conner may have the most boom-or-bust potential of anyone on this list, and a position change could be the catalyst.
With the additions of Kader Kohou and Jadon Canady at nickel corner, along with Chris Roland-Wallace returning from injury, and with Bryan Cook now in Cincinnati after signing with the Bengals in free agency, Conner should be headed back to his natural position of safety in 2026. Given how often he was exposed at slot corner over the past two seasons, this should be one of the more straightforward transitions of the offseason, even if Spagnuolo has a habit of leaning on veterans in familiar roles.
The upside here is real. Conner showed genuine promise as a safety in his rookie season, ranking 23rd of 99 safeties according to PFF.
He is a physical playmaker when used correctly, having recorded 230 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 1 recovered fumble, and 4 interceptions over the course of his career. He has Spagnuolo’s trust, and the Chiefs have a proven track record of turning safety play into lucrative open-market contracts.
Justin Reid and Bryan Cook are the two most recent examples. If Conner can recapture what he showed early in his career and carve out a legitimate role in the starting lineup, a payday is not out of the question.