Chiefs Lurk Near Top Of Super Bowl Oddsboard As They Gear Up for 2022 Season

With Patrick Mahomes back under center, the Chiefs are among the favorites on Super Bowl 57 oddsboards (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire)

The 2021 season didn’t end the way the Chiefs wanted it to, as they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game in OT. But they went 12-5 during the regular season, winning their sixth straight AFC West title along with hosting their fourth straight AFC Championship.

The season started out a little rocky for the Chiefs, as they got off to a 3-4 record, but they turned things around and at one point were playing like the Super Bowl champs from 2020. But with competition stiffening in the AFC West, the Chiefs are going to have to stay hot to remain on top of the division in 2022. Sportsbooks have Kansas City as the favorite to win arguably the NFL’s best division, and the Chiefs are near the top of Super Bowl 57 oddsboards to take home the Lombardi Trophy. The Bills are the consensus top choice, with the Packers and Bucs also getting plenty of respect.

Chiefs’ 2022-23 Futures Odds

Expected Lineup For the Chiefs’ 2022 Season

We know some big-time players are set to stay in K.C. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is under contract through 2031, and his go-to guys — tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill — are also returning to Kansas City.

The Chiefs recently restructured defensive end Frank Clark’s contract to a two-year deal worth $29 million to return for the season.

The offense is expected again to be one of the best in the league, thanks to the trio of Mahomes, Kelce, and Hill.

However, the defense needs work, yet again. It started out as one of the league’s worst before improving into one of the best last season. But can the unit maintain that level this year? In the first five weeks of the 2021 season, the Chiefs defense was eighth worst in the NFL.

But in Weeks 6 through 13, the Chiefs D was one of the best, allowing the fewest points in the league. In Week 11 against the Cowboys, who featured the best offense in the NFL averaging 31.6 points per game, the Chiefs defense dominated and held Dallas to just nine points.

K.C.’s Off-Season Moves Ahead Of 2022-2023 Season

NFL free agency has just started heating up, and the Chiefs have already started to make moves. One of their first moves was cutting Anthony Hitchens to create some cap space. They also used their franchise tag on offensive lineman Orlando Brown Jr.

The Chiefs re-signed embattled wide receiver Josh Gordon, who played just 12 games last season and racked up only five passes for 32 yards. It’s a one-year contract of around $1 million, but it is an inexpensive gamble on a player who led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards as a member of the Browns in 2013. Kansas City also re-signed fullback Michael Burton, a valuable asset on special teams, to a four-year contract worth $2.46 million.

It looks like Kansas City is deciding to say goodbye to safety Tyrann Mathieu after a less-than-impressive season with just three interceptions and two tackles for a loss, as the Chiefs have signed safety Justin Reid from the Texans to a three-year deal worth $31 million. They have also parted ways with cornerback Charvarius Ward, who signed a three-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers worth up to $42 million.

A few other free agents the Chiefs still need to consider re-signing include:

Aside from roster changes, Kansas City also brought Matt Nagy back to be the team’s quarterback coach. Nagy, who was fired as Bears head coach after four seasons in Chicago, was in K.C. when Mahomes was a rookie, and Mahomes has given him a lot of credit for helping his success in the pros.

“Obviously he was an awesome, awesome coach and he helped me out a ton, helping explain things to me as I was coming from a totally different offense to this one”, Mahomes said back in 2019 when the Bears were scheduled to play the Chiefs.