KC Chiefs FA profile: Armani Watts hopes to come back in 2022
By Matt Conner
Why bring him back?
In a year in which the Chiefs are going to see so much turnover, the secondary in particular could see a lot of departures. Tyrann Mathieu could hit the open market as an expensive free-agent-to-be. Chris Lammons is likely done in professional football if police reports are true that he was involved in a battery with Alvin Kamara. Charvarius Ward, Daniel Sorensen, and Mike Hughes are also all scheduled to hit free agency.
While Watts wasn’t exactly a player upon whom the Chiefs heavily depended, the truth is that there’s something nice about having a reliable player who can contribute meaningfully on special teams in all aspects. He’s been well-coached by Dave Toub and is also on the field for a handful of defensive plays per game as well. It won’t exactly move the meter of fan excitement to see him back, but that doesn’t mean such a move would not be valuable.
Why let him walk?
In his rookie season, Watts played in only five games. Since then, he’s appeared in all 16 games every year (a good thing) while playing very little (not so good). Even last year where there was a clear need for better safety play in dime packages, Watts could not supplant a clearly declining Daniel Sorensen on the field, which tells you what the Chiefs coaches knew about his defensive potential (or maybe it says more about a stubborn coaching streak).
There’s nothing done by Watts that could not be done by another player on a rookie contract.