Morris Claiborne will sign with Kansas City Chiefs
By Matt Conner
Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne will be signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in the near future, per Terez Paylor.
Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne has finally found a home for the 2019 regular season with word that the Kansas City Chiefs will bring him in and sign him to a contract, per Yahoo! Sports reporter Terez Paylor.
FanSided’s Matt Verderame has word on the official terms of Claiborne’s deal: a one-year contract worth up to $1.5 million. It’s similar to the one-year, $1.4 million deal the Chiefs gave Orlando Scandrick, another former Cowboys cornerback, just last year.
Claiborne was recently given a four-game suspension to start the NFL season and it’s likely that teams were waiting to see the official word from the league before signing Claiborne. Now that the Chiefs were able to know the exact parameters of his availability, then it made it easier to construct an appropriate financial commitment for the coming year.
Claiborne is just one of several former Dallas defenders on the Chiefs right now. Fellow cornerback Charvarius Ward came over in a preseason deal last season for offensive lineman Parker Ehinger. Linebacker Anthony Hitchens signed last offseason, and fellow linebacker Damien Wilson joined the Chiefs this past spring. The latter pair should be familiar faces for Claiborne to find in the locker room.
Claiborne played for the New York Jets for the last two seasons after beginning his career with Dallas. While Claiborne often supported the Cowboys secondary in a backup role, starting occasionally, he’s given the Jets 30 starts at corner the last two seasons. In that time, he has 22 passes defended and 3 interceptions. He set a career high with 57 tackles last year.
In Kansas City, Claiborne, who is 29, will likely resume his backup role as he did in Dallas, helping in sub packages which will still give him a chance for plenty of reps. Ward and Bashaud Breeland have the boundaries locked down for now with Kendall Fuller in the slot. However the overall level of talent and depth is lacking on a team looking for Super Bowl glory. Claiborne helps to provide security at least.