KC Chiefs: Charvarius Ward signs second-round tender

K.C. Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward has signed his second round tender offer extended to him earlier this offseason, according to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter.

The idea of Ward returning to the team was a foregone conclusion, but it wasn’t entirely official until Ward himself signed it.

Until Ward agreed to the terms of the second-round tender, as a restricted free agent, it’s possible that another team could come in and sign Ward to an offer sheet. From there, the Chiefs would have had right of first refusal to match that contract offer or allow Ward to leave. By signing him to a second-round tender, however, any team signing Ward away would have been forced to compensate the Chiefs with a future second round choice.

Charvarius Ward has officially signed his second-round tender.

The compensation for putting such a heavy weight around Ward’s free agent stock is a nice single-season payday for Ward of nearly $3.4 million. Through three NFL seasons, Ward has earned just over $2.2 million to date, so this will be a nice raise going forward.

Ward is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency a year from now, but losing him one year early would have been disastrous for a secondary that already watched Bashaud Breeland leave for the Minnesota Vikings. If the team had lost Ward and Breeland in the same offseason, then the questions surrounding Deandre Baker, Mike Hughes and other younger players in an inexperienced defensive backfield would have loomed quite large for a Super Bowl contender.

Ward, who recently turned 25, should now be expected to lock down one of the boundary spots in the team’s defense with a real chance to earn a much greater payday next offseason if he can stay healthy and produce at a level commensurate (or greater than) his past performance. In his Chiefs career, Ward has started 31 games with 19 pass deflections and 2 interceptions.