The Denver Broncos took back the AFC West crown in 2025 for the first time since the 2015 season. It was nearly a decade of frustration, some incompetence, and searching for identity. And for the Broncos' part, it looks like they're going to be able to keep it going for the foreseeable future.
But the rest of the AFC West will have something to say about the Broncos' resurgence over the past couple of seasons. Every team is working to get to the top of the division, obviously, but the Kansas City Chiefs are in a very strange spot as a roster overall.
Patrick Mahomes is recovering from major knee injuries. He tore his ACL and LCL late last season, and the latest reports seem to indicate that he's going to somehow be ready to go to face off against the Broncos in Week 1 of the 2026 season. Along with Mahomes's injury and recovery, the Chiefs' core players are all getting older, and the bill has come due on a lot of other expensive players.
They've had to go younger and cheaper, and frankly, general manager Brett Veach has not drafted well enough to keep what was once a dynasty in the "elite" category. FanSided's Cody Williams recently gave out offseason grades to all 32 NFL teams, and the Chiefs -- believe it or not -- had the worst grade of any AFC West team this offseason, despite having two first-round picks to work with.
Denver Broncos' grip on the AFC West gets even stronger after a rough offseason for the Chiefs
Here is what Williams had to say about the Chiefs' offseason, which he graded a "B" for the moves they made.
"Despite drafting some explosive athletes, the Kansas City Chiefs clearly recognized the need to add more of that element this offseason. While it's expensive, that's why I love the Kenneth Walker signing more than some. And it also felt like they made a concerted effort to really build up their defense, most notably with Mansoor Delane, Peter Woods and R Mason Thomas all coming into town by way of the draft. However, Rashee Rice's off-field troubles continuing make you wonder how Brett Veach didn't do more to add to the receiving corps this offseason."
- Cody Williams, FanSided.com
The Chiefs' offseason gets even worse when you consider the fact that they traded away Trent McDuffie, who was inarguably their best player on the back end of the defense. Yes, that landed them an extra 1st-round pick, but they traded proven for unproven, no matter what way you slice it. And the drafting track record hasn't been good enough to give Veach the benefit of the doubt there at this point.
Kansas City's losses in the secondary will be filled with young, hungry playmakers, and the Broncos know how effective "young and hungry" can be. Just because a player is unproven doesn't mean he's going to be bad, but they are really banking on a lot of youth replacing proven production defensively, and not just in the secondary, but on the defensive front seven overall as well.
The Chiefs' offensive line is arguably their biggest and most concerning question mark based on what we saw last season. Perhaps they're banking on addition by subtraction by letting Jawaan Taylor out the door, but the only two sure things on the Kansas City offensive line are Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith.
And just like at wide receiver, they really did nothing to even get insurance on the offensive line this offseason.
With Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones, most people in the NFL world seem to be operating under the assumption that the Chiefs can do more with less this year. Perhaps the youth movement will provide the jolt this team needs. But it's also fair to say that they've had the worst offseason -- on paper -- in the AFC West, and that's good news for the Denver Broncos, who have only gotten better.
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