{"id":835072,"date":"2026-03-26T15:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/835072\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T15:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:47:16","slug":"reviewing-3-contracts-of-re-signed-chiefs-role-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/835072\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviewing 3 contracts of re-signed Chiefs role players"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the offseason began, the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> seemed to recognize a need for major change after going 6-11 in 2025 and missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs have undergone a heavy transformation. The offense seems set for a shift in philosophy after the team signed star running back Kenneth Walker III<\/a> to an expensive three-year contract. On defense, the Chiefs have let multiple key starters depart via free agency (or trade) and seem set to retool in April\u2019s draft. The team has four of the top 75 selections next month.<\/p>\n

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A concern moving forward, however, is that the team\u2019s depth \u2014 a group of players who faltered down the stretch in 2025 \u2014 is largely unchanged. After notable moves like bringing in Walker and signing veteran defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga<\/a>, the front office has mostly pivoted to re-signing their own backups after the initial wave of free agency:<\/p>\n

After declining an expensive \u201crestricted free agency\u201d tender for guard Mike Caliendo, Kansas City eventually brought him back<\/a> on a one-year contract.<\/p>\n

Now that contracts for Remigio, Caliendo and Cochrane are available via Spotrac<\/a>, let\u2019s take a look at the overall roster security for all three players \u2014 as well as some reasons the Chiefs were not as ready to move on as fans are.<\/p>\n

Nikko Remigio<\/p>\n

We can now confirm that Remigio has signed an \u201cexclusive rights free agency\u201d tender. By extending him a non-guaranteed offer of just under $1.1 million \u2014 the minimum base salary in 2026 for players with two credited seasons \u2014 the Chiefs barred Remigio from speaking with other teams. To have a chance of playing this season, the receiver and kick returner had no choice but to accept the offer.<\/p>\n

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Remigio will have no guaranteed money, and he will probably face competition in the return game from rookies or from second-year running back Brashard Smith, who may need to reinvent himself to stick on the roster following the overhaul of the Chiefs\u2019 backfield.<\/p>\n

Remigio underwhelmed in the return game last season. However, we are not far removed from the 26-year-old delivering on a pair of crucial postseason return game moments that helped propel the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIX.<\/p>\n

Much of Remigio\u2019s earlier hype also came from highlights in offseason workouts and training camp. While the Chiefs spend much of the next few months evaluating cornerbacks, Remigio has shown he can at least be depended on to test the mettle of defenders. At minimum salary, there was simply no reason for the Chiefs not to keep him on the 90-man roster.<\/p>\n

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Caliendo and Cochrane, on the other hand, do not come with a risk-free trial.<\/p>\n

Mike Caliendo and Jack Cochrane<\/p>\n

Spotrac reveals that both players have received a $150,000 signing bonus, and the Chiefs guaranteed $500,000 in base salary to each of them. Caliendo and Cochrane each have salary cap charges of about $1.4 million.<\/p>\n

The money is not substantial, but the modest guarantees suggest the Chiefs see both players as strong candidates for the final 53-man roster. At the very least, the two would probably be offered positions on the practice squad at salaries that would partially offset the guaranteed money.<\/p>\n

Caliendo has started multiple games each of the past two seasons as the Chiefs have navigated injuries to the offensive line. In both seasons, he has initially played well, such as not surrendering pressure<\/a> in his first action last season when right guard Trey Smith left Week 7\u2019s victory over the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> with a back injury. However, he has never been able to sustain his best moments and has repeatedly proven to be a liability as a blocker.<\/p>\n

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Cochrane\u2019s reputation may be worse than deserved \u2014 mainly because many fans first learned his name when two of his seven career penalties came in Week 5\u2019s disappointing loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>. While he has been in on more than 75% of the Chiefs\u2019 special teams snaps in two of the last three seasons, Cochrane has never carved out a role on defense other than as a deep reserve.<\/p>\n

The bottom line<\/p>\n

Spotrac currently estimates the Chiefs to be about $7.8 million under the salary cap. The contracts for Caliendo, Cochrane and Remigio have negligible impact on available cap space, and the decisions to bring them back are likely completely unrelated to players who have moved on from the roster.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs will also need to bring in more players at all three positions to have enough depth for training camp. While the 2025 season leaves a bad taste overall for the Chiefs, all three players have had moments that justify allowing them to at least compete for their jobs.<\/p>\n

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Whatever the 90-man roster that goes to St. Joseph in July looks like, it will undoubtedly have multiple worse NFL talents than Caliendo, Cochrane, and Remigio. However, the Chiefs currently hold 9 picks in next month\u2019s draft. With five of those selections coming on Day Three, it would not be surprising to see the Chiefs add an interior lineman, a linebacker and a wide receiver that factors into the return game.<\/p>\n

It is fair to question Kansas City\u2019s willingness to move on from familiar players given recent history. As the team transitions to the next phase from a team that advanced to three consecutive Super Bowls, the Chiefs\u2019 coaching staff must create legitimate competition for reserve players \u2014 and determine the results of roster battles with fidelity, rather than with nostalgia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the offseason began, the Kansas City Chiefs seemed to recognize a need for major change after going…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[3285,24027,346,258,7,4609,44623,125,118,110,2438,2437,9295,11817,393,21445,6,24174,1875,1216],"class_list":["post-835072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-brashard-smith","tag-caliendo","tag-chiefs","tag-denver-broncos","tag-football","tag-free-agency","tag-jack-cochrane","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-kansas-city","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-kansascity","tag-kansascitychiefs","tag-kenneth-walker-iii","tag-khyiris-tonga","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-mike-caliendo","tag-nfl","tag-nikko-remigio","tag-players","tag-trey-smith"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116296263005414933","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}