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NFL: How all of the championship contenders were built

By Sayre Bedinger

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 13: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots and Rob Gronkowski #87 react during the third quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 13: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots and Rob Gronkowski #87 react during the third quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MO – JANUARY 12: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs watches the video replay against the Indianapolis Colts during the AFC Divisional Playoff at Arrowhead Stadium on January 12, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO – JANUARY 12: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs watches the video replay against the Indianapolis Colts during the AFC Divisional Playoff at Arrowhead Stadium on January 12, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images) /

Kansas City Chiefs

Head coach: Andy Reid (2013)
General Manager: Brett Veach (2018)

25 and under: 26
FA: 16
Trade: 6
NFL Draft: 22
CFA: 9
Active cap: $144.56M (3rd highest among final four)
Players on IR: 9

The Kansas City Chiefs’ numbers had to be amended a bit on Tuesday as they activated offensive lineman (and former sixth-round draft pick) Laurent Duvernay-Tardif to the active roster just ahead of their matchup with the New England Patriots.

The Chiefs have been a very interesting team to monitor in the offseason since Andy Reid took over. He immediately traded for Alex Smith upon his arrival to Kansas City and that kept the team competitive, but it was the team’s decision to trade up for Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft that has really put this roster over the top.

The Chiefs have a combined 13 former draft picks in their starting lineup, and would have had one more were it not for some scary, sad, and highly disappointing decisions outside of football by Kareem Hunt.

The defense in Kansas City has previously been a major area of strength for this team, but up until the divisional round matchup against the Colts, it had been a weakness almost all season.

Kansas City’s mastermind is Andy Reid but their front office has done a solid job identifying talent, leading to six straight winning seasons and four straight playoff appearances. They just won their first home playoff game since 1993, and are hosting the AFC Championship game against New England behind their extremely talented offense, which has more speed than the Patriots are going to care to see for the second time this season.

Even with a rookie quarterback contract, the Chiefs’ payroll is in the top 10 highest in the NFL (7th) and the average age of the Chiefs is close to the middle of the pack with the rest of the NFL.

Three of the Chiefs’ top five highest paid players are defenders (Justin Houston, Eric Berry, Dee Ford).

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