It's tough to keep a championship team together, as Kansas City is in the process of finding out. I'm not talking about JuJu Smith-Schuster or Clyde Edwards-Helaire; the team can get by without those guys. I'm more thinking about their pass rush.
While Patrick Mahomes and the offense are why Kansas City just won its second Super Bowl in four years, the defense did its part, especially in terms of pass rush. The team's 55 sacks were 2nd-only to Philadelphia, whose 70 led the league. But they have some work to do to get back to those heights next year.
They're releasing Frank Clark (pictured), who was 3rd on the team in sacks (5) a year ago. Carlos Dunlap, whose 4 sacks ranked 5th on the team, is a free agent. Both of those guys are older players, so maybe they'll hang 'em up, or return at a reduced rate in 2023. But for now they gone from the roster.
Then there's tackle Chris Jones, the All-Pro who led the team with 15.5 sacks. He's looking for a new contract that reportedly would make him "at least the 2nd-highest paid player in the league" at his position. That would be behind only Aaron Donald, whose contract averages over $30 million per year.
Presumably KC will work something out with their defensive MVP, but it won't be easy. In any case, given that uncertainty and other departures, it's hard to see this defense again having the league's No. 2 pass rush without some retooling.
Since 2016, when Jones entered the league, only six players have more than his 65 sacks. Clark and Dunlap also show up in the top 40 at the position over that time period. (Data from pro-football-reference.com used in compiling this table.)
| NFL SACK LEADERS, 2016-PRESENT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Sk | TFL | QBHits |
| Aaron Donald | 106 | 83.0 | 120 | 187 |
| T.J. Watt | 87 | 77.5 | 88 | 162 |
| Cameron Jordan | 112 | 76.5 | 104 | 149 |
| Chandler Jones | 99 | 76.0 | 83 | 146 |
| Myles Garrett | 84 | 74.5 | 77 | 142 |
| Khalil Mack | 102 | 65.5 | 76 | 112 |
| Chris Jones | 107 | 65.0 | 65 | 146 |
| Danielle Hunter | 88 | 65.0 | 77 | 103 |
| Yannick Ngakoue | 110 | 65.0 | 65 | 135 |
| Von Miller | 89 | 63.5 | 83 | 122 |
| Matt Judon | 110 | 62.5 | 82 | 156 |
| Joey Bosa | 84 | 60.5 | 76 | 135 |
| Cameron Heyward | 103 | 56.5 | 77 | 127 |
| Frank Clark | 105 | 55.5 | 63 | 125 |
| Justin Houston | 93 | 55.5 | 64 | 102 |
| DeForest Buckner | 112 | 53.0 | 69 | 140 |
| Mario Addison | 105 | 52.0 | 54 | 73 |
| Robert Quinn | 98 | 52.0 | 52 | 88 |
| Jason Pierre-Paul | 96 | 51.5 | 58 | 87 |
| Carlos Dunlap | 111 | 51.0 | 62 | 133 |
| Calais Campbell | 105 | 50.5 | 70 | 134 |
| Preston Smith | 113 | 50.0 | 59 | 120 |
| Shaquil Barrett | 99 | 49.0 | 62 | 104 |
| Za'Darius Smith | 92 | 49.0 | 61 | 129 |
| Ryan Kerrigan | 92 | 48.0 | 56 | 82 |
| Leonard Floyd | 104 | 47.5 | 54 | 103 |
| Haason Reddick | 97 | 47.0 | 56 | 76 |
| Brandon Graham | 98 | 46.5 | 78 | 97 |
| DeMarcus Lawrence | 97 | 46.5 | 67 | 101 |
| Everson Griffen | 80 | 45.5 | 48 | 108 |
| Denico Autry | 101 | 44.5 | 59 | 82 |
| Nick Bosa | 51 | 43.0 | 56 | 106 |
| Fletcher Cox | 110 | 43.0 | 54 | 110 |
| Markus Golden | 96 | 43.0 | 58 | 118 |
| Bud Dupree | 87 | 42.5 | 58 | 76 |
| Trey Hendrickson | 76 | 42.0 | 36 | 94 |
| Dante Fowler | 108 | 41.0 | 51 | 68 |
| Melvin Ingram | 100 | 40.5 | 57 | 98 |
| J.J. Watt | 71 | 40.0 | 63 | 108 |
Presuming Jones is back, the pass rush won't be falling off the map or anything. Kansas City also has last year's first-rounder George Karlaftis, who had 6 sacks as a rookie. But something to monitor as the team goes for 2 in a row. Failing to make Jones happy would be a bigger deal than any of the anticipated offensive losses, I think.
--Andy Richardson