Report: Frank Zombo Will Re-Sign With Kansas City Chiefs
By Ben Nielsen
Oct 13, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Frank Zombo (51) warms up before the game against the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
The Chiefs have finally made a move to re-sign one of their own and it is not a guy we anticipated. Frank Zombo will be a Kansas City Chief again in 2014 according to a report from Fox Sports 1’s Mike Garafolo. Terms are unknown.
Chiefs will retain LB Frank Zombo. He's agreed to terms, per a source.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 10, 2014
Reserve linebacker play was not very good last season after Justin Houston and Tamba Hali both went down due to injuries. Zombo was graded as a -0.8 outside linebacker by Pro Football Focus, grading well in the run game (+6.2) but awful in the passing game (-7.5). There was a distinct drop in the pass rush when Zombo took over for Houston in the second half of the season and the PFF grade would reflect his pass rushing woes.
Retaining Zombo makes sense if A) the money is right and B) the Chiefs can find a reserve pass rusher to take away passing down snaps from Zombo. There should be enough outside linebacker depth in the draft to find a guy who can serve as a backup to Houston and Hali in passing down situations. If Zombo is the reserve run stopper and someone else is the designated pass rusher then this could all work out. The question is when and where the Chiefs are going to find this player.
KC now has 10 remaining unrestricted free agents: Branden Albert, Geoff Schwartz, Jon Asamoah, Dexter McCluster, Akeem Jordan, Tyson Jackson, Kendrick Lewis, Kyle Williams, Quintin Demps, and Husain Abdullah.