Kansas City Chiefs: Top free agency, NFL draft needs for 2017

Kansas City Chiefs breakdown: Free agency, draft shopping list

As they wade through free agency and prepare to evaluate draft prospects at the Indianapolis Scouting Combine (March 1-6), the Kansas City Chiefs must decide which players to keep as they seek to improve upon their 12-4 record from last season.

The Sports Xchange and NFLDraftScout.com evaluated the Chiefs' roster and created a shopping list to use in free agency and to reference during the Combine.

So close, and yet so far is the way some see the Chiefs. They achieve in the regular season but then don't break through in a big way during the playoffs.

Head coach Andy Reid appears committed to quarterback Alex Smith, despite rumblings of possible interest in Tony Romo. Whether that is accurate will be revealed quickly.

The Chiefs are trying to retain two key free agents: safety Eric Berry, who says he won't play the season under the franchise tag as he did in 2016, and defensive tackle Dontari Poe.

The pass rush is aging, but overall, the Chiefs remain formidable.

THE BREAKDOWN

2016 finish: 1st in AFC West (12-4)

STATISTICS

TOTAL OFFENSE: 343.0 (20th)

RUSHING: 109.3 (15th)

PASSING: 233.8 (19th)

TOTAL DEFENSE: 368.5 (24th)

RUSHING: 121.1 (26th)

PASSING: 247.4 (18th)

NEEDS, SHOPPING LIST

&=Released

*=Vet who may be released or option not exercised

TOP THREE NEEDS

EDGE PASS RUSHER

The futures of Justin Houston (knee) and Tamba Hali (knee/age) are cloudy. Dee Ford stepped up in 2016 with 10 sacks, but the defense had only 28 total.

UFA TARGETS (Age, previous contract's average annual salary)

OLB:

Chandler Jones, Arizona (27, $2.04M)

Nick Perry, Green Bay (27 in April, $5.05M)

Melvin Ingram, L.A. Chargers (28 in April, $2.1M)

DeMarcus Ware, Denver (35 in July, $10M)

Julius Peppers, Green Bay (37, $8.67M)

DRAFT TARGETS (Rating pos/overall, Player, School, Ht., Wt., 40 time, Proj. Rd.)

1/18 Zach Cunningham, Vanderbilt, 6-3, 230, 4.74, 1 (underclassman)

2/26 Takkarist McKinley, UCLA, 6-2, 258, 4.58, 1

3/27 Tim Williams, Alabama, 6-3, 252, 4.76, 1

4/31 Haason Reddick, Temple, 6-1, 237, 4.54, 1-2

5/48 T.J. Watt, Wisconsin, 6-4, 243, 4.76, 2 (underclassman)

DE:

UFA TARGETS (Age, previous contract's average annual salary)

Jason Pierre-Paul, N.Y. Giants (28, $10M)

Calais Campbell, Arizona (DT; 31 in September, $11M)

Jabaal Sheard, New England (28 in May, $5.5M)

&Mario Williams, Miami (32, $8.5M)

Charles Johnson, Carolina (31 in July, $3M)

DRAFT TARGETS (Rating pos/overall, Player, School, Ht., Wt., Proj. Rd.)

1/1 Myles Garrett, Texas AM, 6-4, 268, 1 (underclassman)

2/3 Solomon Thomas, Stanford, 6-2, 275, 1 (underclassman)

3/17 Derek Barnett, Tennessee, 6-3, 265, 1 (underclassman)

4/28 Taco Charlton, Michigan, 6-5, 272, 1

5/32 Charles Harris, Missouri, 6-3, 255, 1-2 (underclassman)

RUNNING BACK

The days of relying on Jamaal Charles are over; three surgeries on his knees in less than 18 months create doubts.

UFA TARGETS (Age, 2016 salary)

Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh (25, $1.03M)

*Adrian Peterson, Minnesota (32 in March, $14M)

LeGarrette Blount, New England (31 in December, $1M)

Latavius Murray, Oakland (27, $567K)

Eddie Lacy, Green Bay (27 June, $848K)

Darren McFadden, Dallas (30 in August, $1.5M)

DRAFT TARGETS (Rating pos/overall, Player, School, Ht., Wt., 40 time, Proj. Rd.)

1/5 Dalvin Cook, Florida State, 5-11, 206, 4.43, 1 (underclassman)

2/9 Leonard Fournette, LSU, 6-1, 230, 4.45, 1 (underclassman)

3/24 Christian McCaffrey, Stanford, 6-0, 202, 4.48, 1 (underclassman)

4/60 Alvin Kamara, Tennessee, 5-10, 215, 4.62, 2 (underclassman)

5/86 Joe Mixon, Oklahoma, 6-1, 226, 4.50, 3 (underclassman)

CORNERBACK

The Chiefs found a stud in 2015 with Marcus Peters. They need to conjure up another corner to handle the opposite side of the defense.

UFA TARGETS (Age, 2016 salary)

A.J. Bouye, Houston (26 in August, $1.67M)

Trumaine Johnson, L.A. Rams (27, $13.95M)

Logan Ryan, New England (26, $693K)

Stephon Gilmore, Buffalo (27 in September, $3.02M)

Brandon Carr, Dallas (31 in May, $10M)

Prince Amukamara, Jacksonville (28 in June, $5.5M)

DRAFT TARGETS (Rating pos/overall, Player, School, Ht., Wt., 40 time, Proj. Rd.)

1/10 Marshon Lattimore, Ohio State, 6-0, 195, 4.47, 1 (underclassman)

2/15 Teez Tabor, Florida, 6-0, 201, 4.50, 1 (underclassman)

3/21 Marlon Humphrey, Alabama, 6-1, 196, 4.49, 1 (underclassman)

4/23 Sidney Jones, Washington, 6-0, 181, 4.49, 1 (underclassman)

5/34 Desmond King, Iowa, 5-11, 206, 4.53, 1-2

UFA KEEPERS

S Eric Berry (29 in December, $10.8M)

DT Dontari Poe (27 in August, $2.83M)

ROSTER REVIEW

DEPTH CHART

Starters and backups are listed according to their status at the end of the season, but players who were starters before being injured are included.

* Indicates player who ended 2016 season on reserve.

& Indicates player released since the Super Bowl.

QUARTERBACKS: Starter -- Alex Smith. Backups -- Nick Foles, Tyler Bray.

RUNNING BACKS: Starters -- *Jamaal Charles, FB Anthony Sherman. Backups -- Knile Davis (UFA), *FB Trey Millard, Spencer Ware, Charcandrick West.

TIGHT ENDS: Starter -- Travis Kelce. Backups -- Demetrius Harris, James O'Shaughnessy, Ross Travis.

WIDE RECEIVERS: Starters -- Chris Conley, Jeremy Maclin. Backups -- *Kenny Cook, Tyreek Hill, Demarcus Robinson, De'Anthony Thomas, Albert Wilson.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters -- LT Eric Fisher, *LG Parker Ehinger, C Mitch Morse, RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, RT Mitchell Schwartz. Backups -- C/G Zach Fulton, G Mike Person (UFA), G/T Jah Reid, T Bryan Witzmann.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters -- *LDE Jaye Howard, DT Dontari Poe (UFA), *RDE Allen Bailey. Backups -- DT T.J. Barnes, DT Jarvis Jenkins (UFA), DL Chris Jones, DE David King, DE Rakeem Nunez-Roches, DE Kendall Reyes (UFA).

LINEBACKERS: Starters -- SOLB Justin Houston, *SILB Josh Mauga, *WILB Derrick Johnson, WOLB Tamba Hali. Backups -- ILB D.J. Alexander, OLB Dee Ford, ILB Justin March-Lillard, *OLB Dadi Nicolas, ILB Terrance Smith, ILB Ramik Wilson, OLB Frank Zombo.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Starters -- LCB Marcus Peters, RCB Phillip Gaines, FS Ron Parker, SS Eric Berry (UFA). Backups -- CB Kenneth Acker, *CB Vernon Harris, CB Terrance Mitchell, CB Eric Murray, CB Steven Nelson, S Daniel Sorensen, CB/S D.J. White.

SPECIAL TEAMS: K Cairo Santos, P Dustin Colquitt, KOR/PR Tyreek Hill, LS James Winchester.