Chiefs Impending Free Agent Could Catch Chargers Interest

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquise Brown will make his 2024 debut this week and could land with the Chargers in 2025.

The Kansas City Chiefs offense has not played up to its usual unstoppable form in 2024, but that could change with the impending return of wide receiver Marquise Brown. A first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Brown established himself as one of the league’s more reliable deep threats with the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals before signing a one-year deal with the Chiefs during the offseason.

Signed to effectively replace Marquez Valdes-Scantling as the deep threat in this offense, Brown’s 2024 debut was delayed thanks to a preseason shoulder injury. However, the wide receiver should debut today and could add some much-needed life to a relatively stagnant passing attack. Brown signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs hoping to cash in during 2025’s free agency, and the Los Angeles Chargers could pursue him if he plays well down the stretch.

Chargers Could Pursue Marquise Brown Following Chiefs Debut

Marquise Brown could potentially fix the biggest issue with the Kansas City Chiefs offense: a complete lack of speed. Tight end Travis Kelce is still a reliable player, but the future Hall of Famer has lost a step and lacks the speed to blow past linebackers and safeties after the catch. DeAndre Hopkins is a strong perimeter threat, but even at his best, the three-time All-Pro never won with speed. He’s still excellent at the catch point, but this team needs an explosive element to the offense.

In theory, first-round pick Xavier Worthy can provide this spark. Selected out of Texas, the wide receiver shot up draft boards after running a record-setting 4.21-yard 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. While his speed is definitely legitimate, he has yet to establish a consistent rapport with quarterback Patrick Mahomes. While the duo connected for six receptions and 46 yards last week, Brown is more polished at this stage of their respective careers and could be the veteran this team needs to go on another deep playoff run.

What the Future Holds

The Los Angeles Chargers should aggressively pursue wide receivers in free agency. After parting ways with the bloated contracts of Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh believed his young receivers could fill the void in this run-first offense. While rookie second-round pick Ladd McConkey took the world by storm, 2023 first-round pick Quentin Johnston should have a smaller role and the rest of the depth chart is a disaster.

Harbaugh wants to win games with a strong run game and a reliable defense, but he must do something about the wide receiver position. Justin Herbert throws one of the prettiest deep balls in football, but it won’t matter if nobody can consistently get open downfield. The team tried to find a cost-effective deep threat with free agent DJ Chark, but the former Jaguar is well past his prime. Armed with over $76 million in projected salary cap space, Los Angeles should be able to steal Marquise Brown from the Chiefs without impacting their ability to upgrade the rest of the roster.