The Kansas City Chiefs honored veteran safety Robert Golden’s request for release as he wanted to find a better fit.
Robert Golden decided he wanted to try to sign on with a different team. The Kansas City Chiefs made his wish come true.
On Wednesday night, Golden released a series of tweets in which he both thanked the Chiefs for the opportunity to play for them but that he was also frustrated with the bad fit. He tweeted about being unhappy and seemed confident that he was headed to another team.
Given the lack of an announcement, the tweets seemed weird, but the Chiefs have indeed apparently set Golden free in the most gentlemanly news out of the NFL in quite some time (and honestly a bit weird). Per his agent, the Chiefs honored the request of a player who didn’t want to play for the team anymore:
The #Chiefs have released veteran S Robert Golden at his request, his agent Jordan Woy told me, saying Golden didn’t feel like he was getting the opportunity to contribute the way he wanted to. “He’s hoping to catch on with another team soon,” Woy said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 16, 2018
The Chiefs have not said anything on the record about this move, but it leaves them a bit thin in the secondary. Safety was already an area of concern given the recent injuries suffered by Dan Sorensen (broken tibia, torn MCL). Eric Berry has also sat a handful of practices with a sore heel that has Chiefs Kingdom worried it could develop into something bigger. That leaves Armani Watts, Eric Murray and Leon McQuay on the roster, each of whom now seem destined to play significant snaps in 2018.
As for Golden, his willingness to go to a team and ask for his release makes it seems as if a deal is already waiting for him. He signed this offseason to a single year deal worth less than $800K, which makes him a fringe roster player and special teams performer. To be candid, those kinds of players typically don’t go to the GM of a team and demand their release. As a longtime Steelers player, it makes you question whether or not he knows he could re-sign with them.
For now we will wait to see both what the Chiefs do in response on the roster with a spot open as well as where Golden will go next.