Arrowhead Pride
Kansas City may well already have the Week One starting lineup in house, but some long-term needs will drive this weekend’s decisions.
The 2025 NFL Draft will kick off from Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Thursday, April 24, with Round 1. The second and third rounds will take place on Friday night, with the fourth through seventh rounds set for Saturday.
The Kansas City Chiefs have single selections in the first (31), second (63) and fourth rounds (133). They have two selections scheduled for Round 3 (66 and 95) and three selections (226, 251, and 257) set in Round 7. Please visit FanDuel Sportsbook for the latest odds on the NFL Draft.
The Chiefs head into the draft with enviable depth across the roster. In theory, this should allow general manager Brett Veach to focus on identifying the best player available each time he is on the clock.
While the Chiefs’ starters for the opening season are likely already on the roster, they also only have 26 players currently signed for the 2026 season. Let’s take a look at the 75 players now signed to the Chiefs’ roster and assess where talent is most likely to be added.
For our purposes, a player is considered a preliminary “roster lock” if he meets any of the following criteria: at least $1 million in guaranteed salary or bonus payments for the 2025 season, 2023 or 2024 draft selections who have averaged six or more games active per season, or exceeding 30% of Kansas City’s offensive or defensive snaps in multiple 2024-25 postseason games.
Roster lock: Patrick Mahomes
Others: Gardner Minshew, Bailey Zappe, Chris Oladokun
Minshew will almost assuredly be the backup to Mahomes, though he is coming off an injury, and the Chiefs were proactive in bringing Zappe back after spending part of the season on the practice squad.
Kansas City holds the 257th and final selection in the draft. This year’s “Mr. Irrelevant”, a quarterback, currently has +700 odds. Assuming the Chiefs keep the pick, the decision will likely be based on which players they are confident they can sign as free agents after the draft. With agents for undrafted passers likely to steer them away from Kansas City, it would not be shocking if the Chiefs drafted a quarterback to replace Oladokun on the scout team at 257th overall.
Roster locks: Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Elijah Mitchell
Others: Carson Steele, Keontay Ingram
While Pacheco, Hunt, and Mitchell should be firmly assumed in the Chiefs’ immediate plans, none are signed past 2025. Veach all but confirmed last week that he would be selecting a running back at some point. In a deep class for the position, it is unlikely Veach will start the Chiefs’ draft with a running back, but FanDuel’s +900 odds on it are an intriguing bet.
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