KC Chiefs: Is cornerback really an offseason need?

Every NFL team has roster concerns to address this offseason, and this is true of the league’s least successful franchises and their most recent champions. That list certainly includes the Kansas City Chiefs who, despite appearing in consecutive Super Bowls, have several positions with varied levels of concern. But is it right to include cornerback as one of those needs?

A recent rundown of the offseason needs for each team in the AFC West by Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports has cornerback as an area of concern for the Chiefs. Not only this, but it’s listed after offensive line—all in a presumed order of need. In his column, he mentions the potential loss of Bashaud Breeland in free agency and references William Jackson as a potential free agent target. But beyond that, corner is not explained.

One year ago, every member of Chiefs Kingdom would have—or should have, at least—agreed. Cornerback looked like the single weakest link on the entire Chiefs roster. Breeland had been suspended for the first quarter of the Chiefs season. Charvarius Ward was the lone reliable starter outside, yet even he was still young and relatively inexperienced in the role. Rashad Fenton was a second-year player who was only a sixth-round choice the previous season with mostly PT on special teams.

When it came to the NFL Draft, the Chiefs invested only two picks in Day 3 on the position that was already ultra-thin. Then Alex Brown, a candidate who seemed primed to compete for a very real spot on the active roster, was lost for the year with a torn ACL in training camp. Overall, the Chiefs had few proven performers, and their most reliable player was out for the season’s first quarter.

Cornerback has inaccurately been listed as an offseason need for the Chiefs.

At present, the position looks completely different. Breeland once again delivered strong reps, but that was only after the team tasked L’Jarius Sneed with one boundary role from Week 1. Sneed not only lived up to what the team asked but went above and beyond. By the time Breeland returned, the Chiefs had multiple viable options outside. Meanwhile Fenton made an impressive leap in his second season, giving the team another reliable option in coverage.

By November, the Chiefs had also lucked into an addition that has received very little attention at present but it should reap serious dividends down the road when DeAndre Baker signed with the practice squad. In 2019, Baker was the first cornerback taken in the NFL Draft and started 15 games for the New York Giants. Last offseason was a nightmare for Baker, who was accused of multiple crimes, including armed robbery, by partygoers in South Florida looking to extort him. Baker’s exoneration took months and by then the Giants had washed their hands of anything to do with Baker—despite his innocence.

Baker was slow to find his way onto the field in 2020 for the Chiefs, but when he did, he looked the part as a starting-caliber cornerback who could help the Chiefs through the postseason. Unfortunately he broke his femur at season’s end and was forced to have surgery. However, his future with the team is clear. If he’s healthy, he’s going to play.

This means that even if the Chiefs watch Breeland leave in free agency for another team, they will return Baker, Sneed, Fenton, and BoPete Keyes. Meanwhile, Brown is an exclusive rights free agent, which means the Chiefs hold all his rights and can force him to play next season on a minimal deal. In addition, Ward is a restricted free agent, which gives the Chiefs right of first refusal on any offer sheet signed by another team. It also means he could come back relatively cheaply—depending on which tender is offered to him.

Basically, yes, the Chiefs could stand to add a bit more competition at the position given the overall youth and injury concerns coming into a new year. Losing Bashaud Breeland would make this an unproven unit, at least at first, but few defensive backfields have the sort of promise as one with Baker and Sneed in tow for years to come, not to mention the likes of Ward, Keyes, Fenton and more.

The Chiefs might address cornerback this offseason in order to provide as much security as possible, but it’s hard to call this any real need for the team at this stage.