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AFC West. Offseason Acquisitions
February 21, 2024 By  AFC West

Rating the Worst Acquisitions made by the AFC West Teams from the 2023 Offseason

Welcome to the fourth installment of the worst offseason acquisition series. This series reviews each division’s worst acquisition from the 2023 offseason. We will review the AFC West.

Criteria for this series

All individuals featured in this series must fulfill the specified criteria. The players on this list are those who joined a new team through trades or signings in the offseason, excluding draft picks, re-signed players, players claimed during roster cuts, regular season signings, or trades during the NFL Trade Deadline.

These players are also judged based on their contracts and expectations for the 2023 season.

Denver Broncos’ worst offseason acquisition: RT Mike McGlinchey

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Oct 12, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Denver Broncos offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey (69) lines up against the Kansas City Chiefs during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Denver signed Mike McGlinchey to a 5-year, $87,500,000 contract with the expectation of being one of the best right tackles in the league for how much money he made.

McGlinchey’s performance was decent, but considering his rank as the 6th highest-paid right tackle in terms of annual salary, it fell short of expectations. He had nine penalties, six sacks allowed, and a 67.5 PFF Grade. He missed the regular season finale because of a rib injury.

Kansas City Chiefs’ worst offseason acquisition: RT Jawaan Taylor

Kansas City Chiefs, Jawaan Taylor
Feb 7, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor (74) during a press conference before Super Bowl LVIII at Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City signed Jawaan Taylor to a 4-year, $80,000,000 contract with the expectation of being one of the best right tackles in the league for how much money he made.

Taylor struggled in his first season and fell short of expectations for being the 2nd-highest paid right tackle in terms of annual salary. Kansas City benched him in Weeks 2 and 3. He had 20 penalties, five sacks allowed, and a 52 PFF Grade

Las Vegas Raiders’ worst offseason acquisition: QB Jimmy Garoppolo

The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to bench Jimmy Garoppolo for Aidan O'Connell
Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill (54) tackles Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023.

Las Vegas signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a 3-year, $72,750,000 contract with the expectation of helping Las Vegas make it to the playoffs.

Garoppolo missed Week 4 because of a concussion and Week 7 because of a back injury, and Las Vegas benched him for Aidan O’Connell for the last nine games.

Garoppolo completed 110 out of 169 pass attempts for 1,205 yards and threw seven touchdowns to nine interceptions with a 3-3 record.

Los Angeles Chargers’ worst offseason acquisition: LB Tae Crowder

Pittsburgh Steelers, Tae Crowder
Jan 1, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Tae Crowder sits on the bench during the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles signed Tae Crowder to a 1-year, $1,010,000 contract with the expectation of bringing depth to the inside linebacker position behind Eric Kendricks and Kenneth Murray Jr.

Unfortunately, Crowder was released during roster cuts, getting beat out by Daiyan Henley, Nick Niemann, and Amen Ogbongbemiga.

He signed to Tennessee’s practice squad on December 26 but was not signed to a reserve/future contract and is now a free agent.

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About Jackson Loschko

Jackson is a sports writer. He writes about college and professional football for Gridiron Heroics. His goal is to be factual, impartial, objective, and trustworthy when writing his articles.

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