The Kansas City Chiefs might grab a safety in the draft, but another free agency addition really doesn’t make that much sense.
It’s understandable to look for another name on the transaction wire. Given the level of defensive needs and the amount of talent that has already exited the team this offseason, it feels like the Kansas City Chiefs should be adding another name or two each passing week in free agency. That might be the case at other positions, but when it comes to safeties, Brett Veach’s work should be done—at least for now.
The Chiefs general manager should feel good about his base of safeties heading into the draft despite the brow-raising release of star safety Eric Berry. The reality is that the Chiefs have three holdovers who are well-known by the holdover coaching staff in Eric Murray, Dan Sorensen, and Jordan Lucas. That’s a nice core of backups with starting potential who was kept around for a reason.
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Before we get to the likely starters, consider this: new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo met with Andy Reid and the front office to pore over each individual player on the roster. Lucas, Sorensen, and Murray are all left standing when others have been traded, released, or simply not retained. Sometimes it’s the lack of a move that speaks volumes.
On top of the retained trio above, the Chiefs also their greatest import available at pretty much any position in the secondary in Tyrann Mathieu, a man who should largely make up for Berry’s loss as a safety playing toward the line of scrimmage. Mathieu’s toughness and versatility is going to be a welcome addition to a secondary that has missed Berry for the last two years.
In addition, it’s important to remember that Armani Watts was starting to show what he can do when he was suddenly lost for the season due to a groin injury. Watts was placed on IR and any development was tabled at that point, but he comes in as a sophomore safety with another full offseason of conditioning, training and studying with the team. He’s a good bet to start at free safety or at least rotate in early on sub packages.
Overall it simply doesn’t make sense to make a move for a league-average replacement, which is largely what the remaining free agents are resembling. Sure, the names might be familiar—Morgan Burnett, Jonathan Cyprien, Glover Quin—but most are hitting 30 or beyond and coming off of injury or disappointing seasons. There’s a reason most players are “free” to sign with anyone else in the first place, but that’s easy to forget.
As for the draft, it makes plenty of sense for the Chiefs to add someone there. Murray and Sorensen won’t be around for another year, most likely, and even the latter is expensive and could be cut for some additional monies if needed. And the overall talent ceiling could be raised if Veach liked a prospect enough to invest early. But for now, the Chiefs are set at safety and should stay put, even if it doesn’t generate headlines for a fan base hungry to read them.