Roster cuts are in the rearview, and that gives the Kansas City Chiefs a clearer picture of what they’re working with for the long haul. One of the first things that jumps out: this is a very young team.
Bill Speros of Rotowire ranked the league’s oldest and youngest rosters, and the Chiefs landed as the third-youngest roster in the NFL. Only the Dolphins, the youngest team, and the Browns are younger.
That kind of number can sound alarming at first glance, especially after the disappointment of the 2025 campaign. But the recent NFL record on young rosters tells a different story.
Last season, the fifth-youngest team in the league was the Seattle Seahawks, and they went on to win the Super Bowl. In 2024, the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles were the sixth-youngest team, while Kansas City checked in fourth.
The Chiefs themselves were also the seventh-youngest team in both 2022 and 2023, the two seasons they won the Super Bowl.
In other words, youth hasn’t been a problem for Kansas City. If anything, it’s been part of the formula.
That also fits the reality of how the roster is built. The Chiefs have handed out big contracts to their stars, which means they’ve had to lean on younger talent around them. That’s the tradeoff, and it’s a pretty reasonable one when the centerpiece is a franchise quarterback and a core that’s already delivered multiple championships.
The other piece of this is the age profile of the rest of the league. The Falcons, Rams, Steelers, Broncos, and 49ers are the oldest rosters right now. The Rams are the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl, and the Broncos and 49ers also carry decent odds to get there.
So while it’s understandable that some fans look at last season and wonder whether Kansas City has slipped out of that elite conversation, the roster age itself doesn’t look like the thing to blame. The Chiefs have been young before.
They’ve won with young rosters before. And recent history says that part of the equation is a lot less concerning than it might seem.
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Patrick Mahomes is expected back from injury, and the Chiefs have tried to steady things with roster moves like signing running back Kenneth Walker III and bringing back offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Even so, the path looks crowded in a conference loaded with contenders, which means Kansas City may need Mahomes to be fully right and Bieniemy to get the offense humming quickly to avoid an unexpectedly tense fight just to stay in the bracket. [Read more 🡒]