Chiefs chairman believes team is close to reaching Super Bowl
The Kansas City Chiefs won their first postseason game since 1994 by beating the Houston Texans in the wild-card round this season and their chairman Clark Hunt believes his team has the potential to contend for Lombardi trophies soon.
"We do feel very, very good about where the team is,’’ Hunt said, according to Adam Teicher of ESPN. "We do believe we have a team that was capable of doing (making the Super Bowl). It's probably a good reminder of how important it is to win the division and to get one of those byes. I think some of the injuries we had in the last game of the season up in New England impacted the team, and if you get that bye you get the chance to get those guys healthy.
"I do think we have a lot of the ingredients that you need in order to make it to the Super Bowl, namely a great head coach and his coaching staff, a quality quarterback and a tough defense. I think we have those ingredients and we have a lot of players who are entering the prime of their careers, and hopefully we’ll be playing in Super Bowl 51 next year."
The Chiefs were bested 27-20 by the New England Patriots in the divisional round, but managed to remain competitive despite the loss of running back Jamaal Charles for the year and with linebacker Justin Houston limited for the latter part of the season due to a knee injury.
Kansas City boasts an impressive core of talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but enters the offseason with some major pieces set to hit free agency.
The Chiefs will have to reward safety Eric Berry with a contract that will surely make him one of the highest-paid players at his position, or risk losing him, and veteran linebackers Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson will require new, but hopefully cost-effective, deals to keep them from moving elsewhere.
"Free agency and the (salary) cap are a challenge each year," Hunt said. "We have a number of free agents this year, important players. We are in pretty good cap shape, maybe the best cap shape we’ve been in for a few years. Certainly getting those players re-signed is going to be a big priority for us here over the next couple of months."