The Kansas City Chiefs are no longer an explosive offense that can win high-scoring affairs. Instead, Kansas City has relied on ball control, discipline and defense to win games.

Throughout the year, the team’s offensive maladies have been compounded by poor performances from the offensive tackle positions.  With an inability to protect in the passing game and frequent drive-killing penalties, the Chiefs have been forced to simplify their creative and dangerous passing scheme, and Patrick Mahomes has been stuck in neutral as a result.

Chiefs starting left tackle Wanya Morris is currently ranked below-average in nearly every offensive line category by Pro Football Focus. There were also high hopes for BYU offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia, whom the Chiefs selected with the No. 63 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but he has dealt with the typical rookie struggles. As the calendar flips to December and the playoffs near, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach clearly wants to fortify the position, but this might not be a problem that he can solve on the free-agent market — as the team’s most recent signing proves.

Kansas City signed veteran offensive tackle DJ Humphries on Friday, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Humphries, who spent the past nine seasons playing for the Arizona Cardinals, will receive $2 million with a maximum value of $4.5 million. The 30-year-old earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2021, but his career was derailed by a torn ACL last season. Humphries was medically cleared to return to the league on Friday, per NFL insider Jordan Schulz.

Suamataia’s struggles caused the Chiefs to leave him off the active roster against the Bills, so Humphries should provide them with some valuable depth in case of injury. Still, he does little to fix the team’s struggles at the blindside position.

Humphries was once a reliable and versatile offensive tackle, but he brings a lot of unknowns along with him. His health is still unclear, and the former first-round pick has struggled with penalties before. Humphries has 54 career penalties, but he was flagged 11-plus times in both the 2019 and 2021 seasons. That sounds a lot like what the Chiefs currently have at the position, and it remains to be seen what if anything Humphries has left in the tank at this point in his career.

It’s hard to believe he’ll be able to move the needle, but he’s certainly worth a shot — especially when the Chiefs are trying to protect the blindside of quarterback Patrick Mahomes for another potential Super Bowl run.