The Kansas City Chiefs made light work of the Jayden Daniels-less Washington Commanders in the second half of Monday night’s game, ultimately winning the game 28-7.
Having now recovered from a tough 0-2 start to be just one game behind the Denver Broncos at the pinnacle of the AFC West, where KC have long reigned, the Chiefs could be in the market to make some additions.
The trade market is a possibility. Or, perhaps, Kansas City could look to the open market and the newly released Mike Pennel as some needed reinforcement on the defensive line.
The Chiefs Could Look To Reunite With Former Defensive Tackle
Pennel was released during final cuts this past offseason, and subsequently signed with the Cincinnati Bengals on a 1 year, $1.25 million deal in September.
However, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the Bengals have now released Pennel, who will be allowed to sign with any team of his choosing, as he is not subject to waivers.
There is no guarantee that Kansas City will be the move for the one-time Arizona State man, who is in his dozenth year in the NFL, but it does feel like the most clear landing spot for the 34-year old.
Pennel has won two Super Bowl rings with the Chiefs over a total of four years spent there – two stints of two years apiece – and had the best pass rushing season of his career to date in 2024, managing 3 sacks.
The Kansas City Chiefs Need Help With Their Run Defense
But primarily, Pennel’s benefit would be his help in the run game. In 2025, the Chiefs are the #4 total defense – another impressive feat from the team and Hall of Fame-worthy defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo.
However, that breaks down into #3 against the pass and 11th against the run.
Now, 11th out of 32 teams is hardly a terrible place to be, but for a team that is looking to once again challenge for a Super Bowl ring, and whose calling card over the past couple of years has been the incredibly stout defense, especially as the offense has ebbed and flowed at times, getting back to being a bona fide top-10 run defense will be important.
And in truth, it is almost a wonder that the run defense is as good as it has been, Derrick Nnadi – officially the starting nose tackle opposite 3-technique and All-Pro, Chris Jones – is graded out as the worst defensive tackle in football this past season by Pro Football Focus, acquiring a miserable 30.0 grade, ranking him 127th out of 127 qualifying players at the position.
]In recent weeks, the team has given former Chargers first rounder, Jerry Tillery, a higher proportion of snaps on offense, but he has not done a whole lot better, with him being ranked the 100th out of 127 interior defensive linemen, with a 51.2 grade from PFF.
Pennel has played in 8 games this season for Cincinnati, managing 15 tackles including 1 tackle-for-loss, and has managed a very respectable 61.3 grade from the PFF analysts, good for 60th in the league.
The PFF grades are hardly the north star of total evaluation, but they do give a reasonably good broader look in – for the majority of cases – as to how players are performing.
And right now, it seems that Pennel would be big boon to the Chiefs’ defense up front, in a move that woud seem to make sense for all.
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