The Kansas City Chiefs offense left a lot to be desired in 2025, and the need for a refresh within the unit became clear. Despite that, keeping veterans helps the system operate without installation issues during the offseason, and because of that, the team should look for a balance in roster construction in this free agency.
With a current salary cap of approximately $30 million, Brett Veach’s decisions will need to be strategic, and one of the team’s free agents could return on an extremely team-friendly contract that still has the potential to produce good results as a rotational piece.
Marquise Brown Could Return to Kansas City Chiefs in a Two-Year Contract
Marquise Brown’s career in the NFL has not developed as expected after a strong start with the Baltimore Ravens. Injuries have always been an issue, and only in 2021 did the receiver surpass 1,000 receiving yards, which meant his future with the team did not last much longer.
Brown’s upside, however, has always been present on the field. With the speed to win deep and the lightness to beat cornerbacks with elusiveness, the reality for Brown in recent years has been that of a mere complementary piece, but one who can still put up solid numbers, and Kansas City can take advantage of that.
“Hollywood Brown played in just two games for the Chiefs in 2024, but he recovered well from injury with a solid 2025 campaign. He caught 49 passes for 587 yards and 5 touchdowns, dropping just 1 of his 70 targets and ending up with a 104.3 targeted passer rating,” Jacob Infante wrote in a PFSN article.
The key to this fit is keeping him on the roster. The Chiefs dealt with problems among their playmakers last season, with the suspension of Rashee Rice and the injuries to Xavier Worthy and Isiah Pacheco, and Brown was an outlier who remained healthy throughout the year, appearing in 16 games.
With the potential addition of a playmaker in the first round of this draft, it is quite possible that Kansas City will have a more explosive offense in 2026, whether by adding Carnell Tate or Jeremiyah Love with the ninth overall pick. Keeping Brown on the roster on a projected two-year contract worth only $4 million is a low price for the upside.
“Injuries seem to have slowed Brown down a little bit, and it would be surprising to see him return to the 1,000-yard territory he achieved with the Ravens in 2021. However, he’s still a twitchy receiver who can win with speed out wide,” Infante added.
The Chiefs’ offense ranked only 17th in the PFSN’s NFL Offense Impact Meter in 2025, and the priority this offseason will be to reverse that situation. The task will already be difficult because of Mahomes’ recovery from a knee injury, but the expectation is that Andy Reid will find the pieces to bring the franchise back to the contender status of previous years.
