Kelvin Benjamin signs with Kansas City Chiefs for one year
By Matt Conner
Kelvin Benjamin found a new home for the rest of the 2018 season with the Kansas City Chiefs, per Adam Schefter.
The Kansas City Chiefs have given themselves another weapon for their record-setting offense with the addition of wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin. Adam Schefter broke the news that Benjamin was signing after visiting with the team on Thursday.
Benjamin’s deal is only for one year, which will make him a free agent again after the 2018 season. This plays well for the Chiefs in that it’s likely a cheap deal and puts all of the pressure on the player to make good on what limited time and opportunities he has in front of him.
Benjamin was released by the Buffalo Bills earlier this week after the franchise decided to cut ties with the mercurial wideout rather than continue to hold out hope that he would turn a corner with the team. Despite giving up a third and seventh round pick for him at a position already hurting for talent, Buffalo cut Benjamin in a move that said much more about the player than the team.
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It was the second straight strikeout for Benjamin given that the Carolina Panthers were happy to get draft assets in return for their former first round pick from the 2014 NFL Draft. Despite a nice first season with the team, one in which he crossed the 1,000 yard mark, Benjamin was an ill fit with Cam Newton and the Panthers offense and was often known as a lazy, selfish player who created division and was an unwilling worker.
With the Chiefs, Benjamin will have no leash for any sort of bad behavior or me-first attitude. The Chiefs have offered a midseason lifeline, and Benjamin has to know the gift he’s been given. Every potential offseason suitor is going to be watching the way he handles himself during his one month or more with Kansas City and will make financial decisions accordingly based on this temporary tryout of sorts.
For Benjamin, it’s a chance to play with arguably the single best young quarterback in the entire game today in Patrick Mahomes. He’ll also be learning under Andy Reid, one of the NFL’s most creative head coaches. Reid knows how to create plays for the specific players under his tutelage, using his schemes to get the most out of their talent. If there are ways to use Benjamin’s size and physical nature to create mismatches, the Chiefs are the team to do it.