Here's what the Chiefs are thinking at left tackle for 2025

The Chiefs have endured a revolving door at this critical position

INDIANAPOLIS – Kansas City has a revolving door problem, specifically at the Chiefs’ left tackle position.

And any visions of Joe Thuney, who moved from left guard to left tackle midway through the 2024 season, opening the 2025 season at the position isn’t likely to happen.

“Joe’s a natural guard, center,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “That’s really what his position was. But by the gracious of his heart, he stepped out and played tackle for us, and what a job he did.

“But I think you move him back inside. He goes back to what he does best.”

Transitioning Thuney back to where he belongs opens the immediate problem – finding a long-term solution as the player responsible for protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blindside.

The issue is amplified when knowing the Chiefs haven’t had stability at left tackle since the team released Eric Fisher in March 2021.

The Chiefs have gone through multiple players to find Fisher’s replacement, a list which includes Orlando Brown, Donovan Smith, Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris and DJ Humphries, over recent seasons.

Brown is now with the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith is an unrestricted free agent and Humphries is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the NFL’s new calendar year on March 12.

That leaves Morris and Suamataia as under contract for the 2025 season, but that doesn’t mean the Chiefs’ starting left tackle is settled.

“We’re keeping everything open there, as we do this thing and really digging in on what’s available – potentially a free agent, what’s available in the draft,” Reid said. “It’s probably too early to go there, but that’s a position we’re looking at, for sure.”

The search for the starter begins in the shadow of a painful Super Bowl loss, which saw Mahomes often running for his life in the face of the Philadelphia Eagles’ relentless pass rush. The Eagles finished the game with six sacks and 11 quarterback hits en route to a convincing 40-22 win over the Chiefs.

Seeing Mahomes under pressure conjured painful memories of Super Bowl LIV, which saw the Chiefs lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after Mahomes went down three times while enduring nine quarterback hits behind a patchwork offensive line.

In the wake of the loss, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach immediately went about to fix the front five by signing Thuney in free agency, trading for Brown, and then using the draft to select center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith.

Could the same scenario arise this offseason?

“I think like every offseason – I don’t want to speak for all the teams – but every offseason it’s offensive line, defensive line,” Veach said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I mean, you got to get a quarterback, right? We have one and we’re blessed to have one.

“But I think if you look at how we handled the offseason, whether it was a Joe Thuney or trading for (Orlando) Brown or a (right tackle Jawaan) Taylor or Frank Clark or Chris Jones, I mean, it’s Mike Danna last year, we’re always investing in the offensive and defensive line. It’s just some years you have more numbers to work with than others, and that would probably be a similar challenge this year. It’s just coming up with some different unique plans, but I think our priority is always on the fronts first, and this will be no different.”

The Chiefs have options to address left tackle, either through free agency or the NFL Draft in late April.

But whomever the chosen player is, he will need to step up with a view to provide much-needed stability and close the revolving door.