Chiefs are one of the favorites to land former three time Pro Bowl free agent at key position

The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off back-to-back Super Bowl wins, but like any NFL team, they still have questions to answer heading into the 2024 season.

Speaking of back-to-back, one of said questions is at left tackle, where last year's starter in Donovan Smith, is no longer there. Jawaan Taylor has entrenched himself on the right side of the line, which makees his likely bookend-to-be the sophomore, Wanya Morris.

Morris didn't play so well when called upon in 2023, but it was his rookie year and the guy is a third-round pick. Meaning, no one expected him to come in and make an immediate impact. At the same time - the eventual results were not encouraging.

So, it makes sense as to why the Chiefs have the second-best odds to land former five-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl left tackle, David Bakhtiari. Per Betonline.ag, the Chiefs have 6/1 odds -or a 14.29% chance- of signing the former Green Bay Packer. The Chicago Bears currently lead the way, at 5/1 odds, or a 16.7% chance.

There's an obvious injury risk that comes with signing Bakhtiari, but it can be mitigated

Bakhtiari has dealt with knee issues ever since he tore his ACL at the very end of the 2020 season. Everything looks promising in terms of his 2024 availability and he even said a couple of weeks ago that things going to "heat up" when it comes to finding a new home.

The injury risk is a big one. Bakhtiari has undergone multiple surgeries, while playing a combined 679 offensive snaps over the last three seasons. To put the missed time into context: He played an average of 969 offensive snaps per season over the course of the eight seasons, prior.

There's an easy way to help mitigate the injury risk, however, and that's incentives. All the Chiefs have to do is work up a contract similar to the one the New York Jets gave Tyron Smith and boom, problem solved.

For those unfamiliar with the Smith deal, he gets a pay bump for playing time. It's a one-year, $6.5 million deal, but he can earn up to $20 million, in all, if he stays healthy, helps the team win in the post season, and makes the Pro Bowl.

This makes all the sense in the world. Bakhtiari played just one game last year, the season-opener against the Bears, and looked pretty damn good. If he's healthy enough to go in 2024, and stays that way, he could easily help the Chiefs shore up Patrick Mahomes' blindside and you better believe he'll be a key cog in helping the team become the first-ever franchise to three-peat since the merger.

**Please note that Betonline.ag is not legal in the US and is not a recommended service**