The Kansas City Chiefs will be aiming to add the finishing touches to their squad this offseason in the hopes of reaching yet another Super Bowl in 2025. The AFC West team had made it to the last three Super Bowls in a row, with the quest for an unprecedented three-peat stopped abruptly by a dominant Philadelphia Eagles team, who won the 2024 Lombardi trophy with a 40-22 scoreline.

Head coach Andy Reid was adamant that changes would be made during the offseason as the Chiefs prepare for another battle to the top in 2025 with Patrick Mahomes at the helm. After the blowout loss to the Eagles, the young quarterback stated that the defeat was “the worst feeling”, and “blame” sat on his end for the three turnovers he produced during the game.

However, the Chiefs have been down in luck before – their recent successful run is something that is new to their history in the sport, given that they had only lifted one Lombardi before 2020. Now, Reid’s team have three rings to their name, and are already making big moves in the free agency market to bolster their squad.

So far, defensive tackle Jerry Tillery has joined from the Minnesota Vikings to boost the line, ex-Las Vegas Raiders starting QB Gardner Minshew has been signed as back-up for Mahomes, and former Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton has also joined the Chiefs Kingdom this month.

Free agency has been a great asset to the Chiefs this month, with Jaylon Moore and Elijah Mitchell also joining up, and it has been proven in the past that it’s not always the NFL Draft that you should look to for Super Bowl stars.

Some of the NFL’s greatest athletes have seen their success in the sport come years after they were originally drafted by a team—and sometimes, this success can be with a totally different franchise.

Here, Mirror Sport looks back on some of the Chiefs’ greatest-ever free agency signings who ended up bringing success to Kansas City in the past as Reid and co look to capitalise on it again this year.

Damien Williams

Damien Williams was a Super Bowl hero at the Chiefs first Lombardi trophy win since 1970(Image: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

In the championship title game, Williams rushed 17 times for 104 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown, and caught four passes for 29 yards and a touchdown. However, it was the timings of these touchdowns that etched him into Chiefs folklore after he scored a receiving touchdown with 2:44 left in the game to give his team the lead.

Then, on the Chiefs’ next possession, with 1:12 left on the clock, Williams rushed into the endzone, extending Kansas City’s lead to 10 points and ultimately winning them their second-ever Lombardi – and their first since 1970.

Despite these heroics in his first-ever Super Bowl game, the former free agent opted out of another season with the Chiefs in 2020 and was eventually released in March 2021. The now-32-year-old has had stints at the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, and Las Vegas Raiders since and was most recently cut from the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad in 2023.

Tyrann Mathieu

Tyrann Mathieu helped the Chiefs create a top-10 defence in recent years(Image: Chris Unger/Getty Images)

Safety Tyrann Mathieu was another recent free agent that the Chiefs signed to bolster their struggling defence after their 2018 season ended with an AFC Championship game defeat to the New England Patriots.

Mathieu had spent time at both the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans in his first six seasons in the NFL, but his most important years were spent in Missouri under Steve Spagnuolo’s direction. In his three years with the Chiefs, Mathieu racked up a whopping 213 tackles and three sacks from strong safety, winning one Super Bowl and being named in the All-Pro team and Pro Bowl team twice.

His influence on the team helped the defence go from the 24th best-ranked in 2018 to a top-10 formation across the three years he spent in Missouri. He is widely regarded as one of the best investments the AFC West franchise has made in recent history.

Now, Mathieu plays his football for the New Orleans Saints, and his 2024 season included 62 total tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery – which is still incredible numbers for the 32-year-old to be putting up in his veteran years.

Priest Holmes

Priest Holmes joined the Chiefs as a Super Bowl winner after signing with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 1997 and winning a ring in Super Bowl XXXV. In 2001, Holmes headed to Kansas City on a five-year, £9million ($11.7m) contract and exceeded the expectations of every person in the city.

In his first season, the running back led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,555 and became the first undrafted player to achieve this feat. He then produced one of the best three-year stretches in NFL history, with 4,590 yards and 56 touchdowns, which led him to become the second-highest rusher in Chiefs history as well.

He was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2002 thanks to his career-high yardage of 1,615 and 21 touchdown season – and although he had to retire in 2007 after aggravating a neck injury that ruled him out of the season before – his legacy still stands strong in Chiefs history to this very day.

Brian Waters

Brian Waters was another undrafted gem the Chiefs unearthed(Image: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Brian Waters was another undrafted free agent who was snapped up by another team before the Chiefs, but his time in Missouri produced the finest work in his career. The offensive guard was originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys, but they cut him after training camp, which allowed Kansas City to swoop in.

After signing him in the 2000 offseason, the AFC West team sent Waters out to play with Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe, with the hopes of turning the young athlete into a center. He then went on to spend 11 glittering years with the Chiefs, forming one of the most dominant offensive lines that the franchise has ever seen.

Waters was named first-team All-Pro twice and was selected for five Pro Bowls. The now-48-year-old also won the Walter Payton Award, which honours a player’s contribution on the field as well as off, before he eventually left Kansas City in 2011.

After his exit, Waters has had stints back at the Cowboys and at the New England Patriots before announcing his retirement in September 2014.