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Allen Bailey’s future will come into focus after the 2019 NFL Draft

By Matt Conner

KANSAS CITY, MO - OCTOBER 2: Quarterback Kirk Cousins #8 of the Washington Redskins tries to break the tackle attempt of defensive end Allen Bailey #97 and Jacoby Glenn #39 of the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on October 2, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. ( Photo by Jason Hanna/Getty Images )
KANSAS CITY, MO - OCTOBER 2: Quarterback Kirk Cousins #8 of the Washington Redskins tries to break the tackle attempt of defensive end Allen Bailey #97 and Jacoby Glenn #39 of the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on October 2, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. ( Photo by Jason Hanna/Getty Images ) /
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Allen Bailey and other free agents are taking visits these days, but their future isn’t likely going to be settled until after the 2019 NFL Draft has been wrapped.

Right now, NFL teams are doing their homework. Teams are hosting players for physicals and personal workouts. Franchises are inviting potential additions to come in and meet the coaching staff, hear about the team’s plans and see what sort of fit might emerge. Oh yeah, teams are also doing this with NFL Draft hopefuls.

While the frenzy of free agency is over, NFL teams are still slowly and surely bringing in NFL veterans for the same sorts of visits that college players are also going through. It is simultaneous homework on the part of general managers and front offices—all for the goal of roster construction.

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For the draft, teams are on a deadline to try to sort out their draft board as well as line up potential rookie free agents for the chaotic post-draft race to sign players who remained valuable and available. Yet after the draft, there’s a different kind of race to sign the veteran players still available who could fill the holes left after the draft.

For now, a veteran like Allen Bailey is left waiting. He’s got plenty of interest, not only from the team that drafted him in the Kansas City Chiefs, but also from the Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, and Seattle Seahawks. Bailey has taken visits to every team, and he’s coming off of a season in which he set a career high in sacks with six. Why are teams making him wait? It’s a solid question.

The reality, however, is that 32 teams have no idea how the bulk of the NFL Draft is going to go. What is clear is that the Chiefs, Pats, Panthers, and Seahawks are all interested in further help along the defensive line, especially at end. But will each of those teams find a valuable contributor likely to play a decent amount of snaps in 2019? That much remains to be seen. Depending on how the draft falls, one or more teams might find the guy they needed—someone Bailey-esque—with one of their picks.

Essentially, for a player like Bailey, the visits taken right now are about teams doing their homework so they can capitalize after the draft. Every team likely has a list of affordable veterans they’ll reach out to after the draft to take care of any remaining roster holes. For the Chiefs, it likely means they’ve got numbers ready to call for cornerback, defensive line, wide receiver and so on in case the draft board simply doesn’t fall as they’d hoped.

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Bailey might be waiting and wondering for now, and it might feel like a very long time given the slow news drip of the NFL offseason, but in the bigger picture, the defensive lineman is likely to find a new home in short order. He might even be able to tell who will be calling if he watches the draft close enough.

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