NFL free agency has subsided for the most part and now teams have a clearer picture of the gaps that they need to fill in on the roster heading into the NFL Draft. For some teams, that meant going out and spending big money and for others it meant just keeping your guys around. The Kansas City Chiefs did a little bit of both, including re-signing wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to a one-year, $11 million contract.

Brown missed most of last season with an injury, but he had a big impact on the offense after returning. His speed and ability to pick up yards after the catch were big for a Chiefs squad that lacked explosiveness on that side of the ball, and they will be hoping for more of that with a full offseason for him to continue to mesh with the team.

While Brown came to Kansas City as a speed threat last season, he proved that he’s much more than that for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.

“What impressed me so much about Hollywood is that everybody told me he was a fast guy but not everyone told me how much he can actually do on the football field and you could see it,” Mahomes said, per Teicher. “He can run those over-the-middle routes. He can run really good routes and he can run deep. It’s not like fast is the only thing that he can do.”

Having Brown in the receiving core alongside young rookie Xavier Worthy helped the Chiefs find some more explosiveness in the passing game, and allowed star tight end Travis Kelce to work underneath because defenses had to back off just a hair.

You could see the shift as soon as he returned from injury, and Kelce could too.

“Every time Hollywood catches the ball, it’s just a burst of energy,” Kelce said of Brown, per Teicher. “We missed that guy a lot [during his injury]. I was watching him in practice when he first got back. I was like, ‘That’s it. That’s the guy.’ We missed that guy.

“He’s one of those guys that you could feel his presence when you’re out there on the field with him.”

Now, Kelce, Mahomes and Brown will get another offseason together as they look to get back to the Super Bowl and avenge their blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the big game. If Brown can continue to improve and stay healthy next season, it will take a very strong effort to knock the Chiefs off again in 2025.