Getty

Brett Veach Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs made one of the more intriguing gambles of the offseason when they signed former San Francisco 49ers tackle, Jaylon Moore, to a 2 year, $30 million deal in March.

Moore, who has just 12 starts to his name over the course of his four years in Santa Clara, has filled in admirably when needed in lieu of All-Pro, Trent Williams. Pro Football Focus gave Moore a 74.9 grade in 2024, where he started five games.

Yet starting and filling-in are two very different propositions, so it was surprising for many that Kansas City gave the Western Michigan alum an in-between contract; more or less equivalent to that of a low-mid end starter at the position.

Chiefs Make Unique Free Agent Signing On The Offensive Line

For many it seemed like a low-cost gamble, where the Chiefs were effectively getting Moore – who they believe to have strong, starting-level ability – at a discount due to the fact that he has been sitting behind Williams for the last four years.

As Veach said to reporters in April, KC believes that Moore has an important role to play on the offensive line – which struggled enormously against in the might of the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX – in 2025.

“We want to get some stability there at the left tackle position.” Veach said, per Sports Illustrated, “[Moore] is a guy that, I think, the only downside was just the lack of starts during his career. Now, when you consider the fact that he played behind a first ballot Hall of Fame player in Trent Williams, you can see why.”

“He’s athletic. He’s a smart kid. We did a lot of work on him during the pre draft process years ago, always had a liking, taking liking to the kid, thought he had a game that translates and and credit to him that when he had a chance to go out there and log six, seven starts last year, he did a really good job.”

Moore Signing Potentially A Misstep By The Chiefs

But according to Gary Davenport, the team made one of the least smart decisions this offseason by bringing in the former 49er.

Quoting ESPN’s Seth Walder back in March, Davenport argues that bringing in a somewhat unknown quantity in Moore at left tackle was not a smart decision when trying to protect the best quarterback in football – certainly for a team that is perennially vying for Super Bowl rings.

“There are spots in roster-building where taking risks makes sense,” Walder writes, via Davenport, “Patrick Mahomes‘ left tackle is not one of them. Moore is somewhat of an unknown, but what we do know isn’t pretty. His 83% career pass block win rate would have ranked 63rd out of 67 tackle qualifiers last season.”

There have not been a ton of similar signings to compare with this, but the ones that have been done look somewhat ominous for KC.

Andre Dillard and Hal Vaitai – both coming from the Philadelphia Eagles, failed to produce as starting tackles for the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions. Vaitai was eventually moved inside to guard, whilst Dillard was released after just one season.

Can Jaylon Moore buck the trend – the Chiefs will hope so.

Daniel Arwas Daniel Arwas is a sports writer who covers the NFL for Heavy.com. Daniel began his career in sports writing in 2022 and has covered the NFL and college football for Gridiron Heroics and The Hammer. More about Daniel Arwas