Former KC Chiefs cornerback KeiVarae Russell will sign with Saints

Former K.C. Chiefs cornerback KeiVarae Russell has resurfaced for another season, this time with the New Orleans Saints as a preseason signing.

According to NFL reporter Dan Graziano, the Saints are expected to bolster their depth and talent in the secondary by signing both Russell and veteran cornerback Prince Amukamara to deals after watching them both try out over the weekend.

The Saints have Marshon Lattimore locking down the top spot in the secondary with Patrick Robinson and Brian Poole also obvious choices for some of the first spots on the depth chart. The team also selected Paulson Adebo out of Stanford in the 2021 NFL Draft. However, Russell and Amukamara should offer plenty of competition for the rotation and veteran options for the Saints to consider next to developmental talent.

Russell remains perhaps the biggest head-scratcher of every one of John Dorsey’s draft picks over his impressive tenure as a man tasked with finding talent for the Chiefs. While most of Dorsey’s draft moves were good to great, the selection of Russell remains a bit of a mystery since the Chiefs went ahead and released him just a few months later in mid-September.

KeiVarae Russell has found a new home with the Saints for 2021.

It’s odd that a third round pick wouldn’t earn little more than a single preseason with the team that drafted him, but that’s exactly what happened to Russell. It makes it seem that something happened internally that no one has discussed outside of Arrowhead and that a quick decision was made to simply distance themselves from Russell. What’s harder to believe was that the homework was so bad on Russell that they would select only to later find out he’s just not a good fit or a hard worker.

Despite his early ouster from the Chiefs roster, Russell has held on for the last few years to various NFL gigs, from the Cincinnati Bengals who claimed him from K.C. to the Green Bay Packers with whom he spent last season. The Chargers and Giants have also offered him short stints.

Russell, who is still only 27 years old, has played in 21 total games in his NFL career with a single start to his credit.