Kansas City Chiefs 2025 Season Preview
By: Michael Higgins
(Image courtesy of Alex Brandon/Associated Press)
The Kansas City Chiefs are becoming a dynasty right before our eyes. They will need to toe the line with the cap and excellent drafting over the course of their run in order to maintain contender status, which they have managed to do up until this point. As long as they have Patrick Mahomes at QB and Andy Reid calling the shots, they will always be a contender.
Trades: Being a dominant force year in and year out comes with certain hardships. Being able to pay every single top performer on a championship team is impossible. Due to this, the Chiefs had to trade IOL Joe Thuney to Chicago in exchange for a 2026 4th round pick.
Departures: They also parted ways with a numerous amount of key players from last year’s roster: WR Deandre Hopkins, WR Mecole Hardman, WR Justin Watson, OT DJ Humphries, EDGE Josh Uche, DL Derrick Nnadi, DL Tershawn Wharton, and SAF Justin Reid. While the big name of Deandre Hopkins definitely sticks out on that list, the loss of Justin Reid may be the biggest of them all. Reid did so many things on the back end of that defense that will be hard to replace with one player.
Additions: Despite being backed up against the cap, the Chiefs were able to add some nice pieces. They managed to bring in OT Jaylon Moore and CB Kristian Fulton on multi-year contracts while agreeing to one-year deals with RB Elijah Mitchell, QB Gardner Minshew, and DL Jerry Tillery.
Draft Selections: The Chiefs are one of those teams who always seem to draft well. It is a huge reason as to why they have been so successful for so long. This year seems to be no different. They managed to snag Ohio State OT Josh Simmons at the end of the 1st round. Simmons is a player who would have been a top 10 pick had he been healthy going into the draft. In the 2nd round, they took one of my favorite underrated players in Tennessee DL Omarr Norman-Lott. Norman-Lott will provide meaningful depth on the interior of the defensive line. They also managed to steal one of my favorite prospects in the entire draft in the 5th round. Utah State WR Jalen Royals was a top 5 player at his position for me in the 2025 class. Other players from their draft class that I expect to see the field are LB Jeffrey Bassa, RB Brashard Smith, EDGE Ashton Gillotte, and CB Nohl Williams.
Season Predictions: The Chiefs are looking to replicate the regular season they pulled off in 2024 again in 2025. The team starts the season in Brazil against the Chargers. They come back home to host the Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch for Week 2, then travel to play the Giants and return to play the Ravens at home to end September. The Chiefs will start the season 2-2.
Kansas City opens October on the road against the Jaguars on Monday Night Football. They go back home for the rest of the month to face the Lions in Week 6 on Sunday Night Football, the Raiders, and then the Commanders on Monday Night Football. The Chiefs go 3-1 in October.
They open November in Buffalo against the Bills before a Week 10 bye. They come back to play the Broncos on the road, the Colts at home, and the Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving. The Chiefs go 3-1 in November.
December starts at home on Sunday Night Football against the Texans, they stay at home to play the Chargers, travel to play the Titans, host the Broncos on Christmas Day, and close the season in Vegas against the Raiders. The Chiefs will go 4-1 in this final stretch.
Final Thoughts: I have the Kansas City Chiefs finishing the 2025 season with a record of 12-5. In a competitive division, 12 wins will cut it close but I still believe they hang on to win the AFC West. If they can have a winning record in the division, they will be set up to win the division and push for a bye in the Wild Card.
