Bashaud Breeland rumors: Colts, Browns wait to see what happens with Chiefs visit
By Matt Conner
Will free agent cornerback Bashaud Breeland leave the Kansas City Chiefs without a deal and move on with his free agent tour?
Free agent cornerback Bashaud Breeland is on stop number two out of four on a planned whirlwind of visits that also includes the Oakland Raiders at the first part of this week and the Cleveland Browns (on Thursday) and Indianapolis Colts still to come. At this point, however, both teams are waiting to see what happens while Breeland is visiting with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Breeland is still with the Chiefs as of Wednesday morning after he was supposed to arrive on Tuesday, and he is apparently hanging out at training camp practice. He’s been seen talking with Tim Terry from the front office as well as defensive coordinator Bob Sutton from witnesses at training camp. It will be interesting to see if he sticks around longer or whether he makes the trek to Cleveland as planned.
Breeland is a 26-year-old free agent who already signed three-year deal worth $24 million this offseason with the Carolina Panthers, only to be undone by a failed physical (with an infected cut in his foot suffered on vacation in the Dominican Republic). While the deal wasn’t finalized, it should show that the market was good to Breeland the first time around and it’s hard to see some team not coming near those totals in the end if Breeland is indeed healthy.
Recently the Chiefs were listed at No. 28 overall in a ranking of secondary units around the league heading into 2018 by Pro Football Focus. What’s interesting is that the Browns and Colts were two of the teams who were actually below them, which means that Breeland is basically drawing interest from the thinnest teams at defensive back and allowing them to bid against the other. It’s smart for teams to be interested, but it’s also smart for Breeland to stack them together as they all make their pitch.
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Breeland already made it out of Oakland without a deal which likely leaves them on the outside looking in. It’s the way it works with every team if Breeland leaves as the next team has the upper hand in blowing him away with a “sign here now or lose it” offer. It will be interesting to see if Breeland makes his next stop. If so, that won’t bode well for the Chiefs.