KC Chiefs should avoid chasing newly released Alec Ogletree
By Matt Conner
Alec Ogletree is likely nothing more than a name free agent for teams like the Kansas City Chiefs to avoid.
Earlier this week, the New York Giants set a couple linebackers free with the release of Kareem Martin and Alec Ogletree.
The latter was a major acquisition only two years ago for a Giants team who gave up two Day 3 picks for the chance to pay the former Rams linebacker tens of millions of dollars. Ogletree was the heart of a solid Rams defense, and New York needed someone to fill that role. Unfortunately it never worked out that way.
Ogletree was named a second-team All-Pro in 2016 with the Rams. With the Giants, he was benched for the sake of an embarrassing defense. To the outsider, it difficult to know what to make of Ogletree and any potential he has now as a free agent linebacker. That’s the reason we asked for some help.
Thanks to Charlie Vitolo, site expert for FanSided’s New York Giants site GMen HQ, for telling us more about Ogletree’s precipitous drop in performance, what the market might bear for him moving forward, and whether there’s anything left for the Kansas City Chiefs to be interested in.
Ogletree went from an All-Pro to a defensive liability during his short stint in New York. How much of this is on the coaching staff?
Although the defensive coaching staff and scheme left much to be desired, very little of Ogletree’s struggles had to do with them. Ogletree lost one-on-one battles in pass coverage time and time again and allowed 88% completions against him in 2019.
He was a mediocre tackler, and although he made some big plays he was by far the biggest weakness on the defense. When he was off the field, the unit was better (see second half of Tampa game in week 3 and Washington game in week 4).
What do you think Ogletree could still offer a team in a positive sense?
Very little. I’m at a loss to explain how a former SEC safety and 2016 NFL All-Pro could become so lost in pass coverage, but that’s where we are. He was a captain with the Giants and has been advertised as a leader but I think guys tuned him out due to his lack of production.
If he didn’t require a significant cap hit, do you think the Giants would have hung onto him?
The cap hit would have had to have been really small for the Giants to hang on, he was that bad. Considering they gave up draft capital to get him that might have changed things in his favor, but I believe the team would have moved on either way this offseason.
If you had to predict what the market might offer Ogletree at this stage…?
I can’t see him doing better than $5M APY. A one-year prove it deal is probably in order, but I think he’ll end up with something like 2/$10M from a desperate team hoping to revitalize him.