Kansas City Chiefs named as potential home for safety George Iloka

The Kansas City Chiefs have been named as a potential destination for former Bengals safety George Iloka.

The Cincinnati Bengals surprised some NFL analysts over the weekend with the unexpected release of longtime safety starter George Iloka. For a proven player to be released without a real financial need, it was a bit of a curveball and sets Iloka free on the open market at a time when safeties have been devalued for largely unknown reasons.

Iloka joins Eric Reid, Mike Mitchell and Tyvon Branch as safeties who are still available, a group that included even Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccaro only weeks ago as teams have waited until late in the offseason to even bother with safety signings.

Still some teams, such as the Kansas City Chiefs, show a need for safety help—at least on paper—which is why Pro Football Focus’s Eric Eager has linked the two. He writes:

"Kansas City, for example, just lost Daniel Sorenson to an injury, has yet to see Eric Berry play a preseason snap off of an Achilles injury, and played three-safety dime packages 43 percent of the time a season ago."

To explain his quick points, Sorensen is slotted in as a the starting free safety on the team’s unofficial depth chart, but he’s also out at least five more weeks (and likely more) due to a broken tibia and damaged MCL. Doctors have to wait until the tibia surgery is healed up before they can even chart a way forward, so the Chiefs should likely plan for a worst-case scenario here.

As for Eric Berry, he’s missed numerous practices in the last week due to a sore heel, a problem that crept in last preseason before he tore his Achilles in Week 1. Given its reprise, fans are understandably concerned that it could signal something further down the road, something more damaging, and Berry is the one player the Chiefs need back more than ever.

Even with those guys, the secondary wasn’t exactly set. Eric Murray and Leon McQuay are also around, but the former was inconsistent when tasked with significant reps in 2017 and the latter is completely unproven when it counts and has been injured much of the preseason. Robert Golden recently left the team, and Jordan Sterns is a practice squad addition at this pointm.

That said, the Chiefs are cash strapped and recently signed Orlando Scandrick to help boster the pass defense as a versatile veteran cornerback option. Armani Watts is also waiting in the wings as a fourth round receiving a ton of preseason snaps. Another veteran addition might not make sense for the Chiefs until they can see another week of how things might shake out in terms of injuries and overall talent readiness for the season.

By then Iloka might be snatched up. Then again, he could join the ranks of safeties who are waiting once again for their chance.