This page lists all the 2026 NFL Signings for the Kansas City Chiefs. I’ve listed all of the NFL Free Agent Signing Grades here, which included the Signings. Because I’ve begun posting polls for the Signings, I thought it would make sense to list just the NFL Signings here, so archiving the voting would be easier.
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🏈 2026 NFL Free Agent Signing Grades by Team (Synced 3.23.26)
- Total Signings: 6
- Average Grade: F- (52.5)
March 2026 – Signings
Chiefs re-sign TE Travis Kelce (3 years, $54.7 million): MILLEN Grade
signed on 3/23/2026
This is one of those contracts you see get announced on X, and you immediately have to check if a fake account like Adarn Schefter or Ivan Rapoport reported it because the numbers make absolutely no sense.
Why would the Chiefs give Travis Kelce this sort of money? Kelce is old and washed up, and he has clearly mailed in some regular-season games. He seemingly stopped trying very hard when he began dating Taylor Swift, but at least he showed up in the playoffs. This stopped during the postseason following the 2024 campaign, which featured a horrible performance in the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles.
This is a no-brainer Millen grade. The Chiefs let some talented players go because of financial decisions, and yet they opted to pay a decrepit tight end this much money? Why? The only positive stemming from this signing is that it’ll allow Kelce to help pay for his impending sham wedding.
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Chiefs sign S Alohi Gilman (3 years, $24.8 million): B+ Grade
signed on 3/9/2026
OK, so the joke I made in the Tyquan Thornton signing doesn’t work so well anymore. I wrote that the Chiefs lost their entire secondary and barely did anything to compensate, but they’ve at least signed Alohi Gilman to replace one of their departed players.
Gilman is not as great as Bryan Cook, but he’s still a very good player. Gilman has been terrific in coverage in recent seasons, so he’ll be a capable replacement at a reasonable price. Now, the Chiefs need to work on finding two new corners and addressing all of their other many needs.
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Chiefs re-sign WR Tyquan Thornton (2 years, $11 million): C+ Grade
signed on 3/9/2026
Chiefs fans watched their entire secondary depart this week, and all they got was this stupid Tyquan Thornton re-signing. Well, that and the massive overpay at running back. Dark times for Kansas City, indeed.
This isn’t a horrible move despite what I just wrote. Tyquan Thornton made some big plays last year. The problem is that they were few and far between, as Thornton and Patrick Mahomes struggled to connect. Still, receiver was a huge need for the Chiefs entering the offseason, especially with Rashee Rice potentially facing prison time.
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Chiefs re-sign TE Travis Kelce (1 year, $12 million): B+ Grade
signed on 3/9/2026
It’s pretty surprising that Travis Kelce is returning for another season. When he walked off the field in the home finale versus the Broncos last year, it seemed as though he was saying goodbye for good. I figured he would take some time to concentrate on his sham wedding, but he’s coming back to Kansas City for one more ride.
Kelce is mostly washed up at this stage of his career, but I think this is a good signing for two reasons. First, Rashee Rice has a pretty good chance of going to prison, so Kelce would be needed more as an intermediate receiver over the middle of the field. Second, with Patrick Mahomes coming off a torn ACL, it’ll be helpful for him to have a familiar weapon as he eases himself back into action.
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Chiefs sign DT Khyiris Tonga (3 years, $21 million): MILLEN Grade
signed on 3/9/2026
Call me cray, but $7 million per season is a bit too much for a player who is mostly just a meme. Khyiris Tonga is a 330-pound nose tackle who played about 20 snaps per game last year and wasn’t very good at stuffing the run. He got a bit of pressure on the quarterback, but not very much.
This is a Millen grade. Not only are the Chiefs overpaying; they’re getting a player on the downside because Tonga turns 30 in July, so it’s not like there’s any upside with this move.
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Chiefs sign RB Kenneth Walker (3 years, $45 million): D Grade
signed on 3/9/2026
Kenneth Walker made a lot of money in the Super Bowl because there was no way he was getting this contract prior to it. We know this because Walker wasn’t even handling the majority of the workload in Seattle, as Zach Charbonnet was given the important carries, namely those inside the 20.
This is an insane amount of money for any non-elite running back, especially a committee back. The Seahawks didn’t think Walker could shoulder a big workload for a long period of time, so I don’t understand why the Chiefs think he can. I understand that Kansas City was desperate to upgrade its running game, but is Walker even going to have the blocking to be successful?
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