KC Chiefs: Grading the signing of safety Justin Reid

The Kansas City Chiefs’ first big move of free agency came late on Monday night when they signed now-former Houston Texans safety Justin Reid to a 3-year, $31.5 million contract to be their new starting safety.

Obviously, the signing of Reid signals the end of Tyrann Mathieu‘s time in Kansas City, which if you were paying attention, shouldn’t be a surprise. No one can say for sure when it happened, but there came a point where the team’s front office arrived at the conclusion that it was time to move on from Mathieu and opt for a younger player to help the back end of the defense.

The move for Reid is the first step in making the Chiefs defense younger, faster, and more athletic this offseason in an attempt to keep up with the rest of the division and the AFC.

Grading the Justin Reid signing for KC Chiefs

Before the opening of the legal tampering period, I wrote an article on potential free agent safeties the Chiefs could go after and Justin Reid was on that list. When I wrote that, I had Reid going for about $12-$13 million per year on the open market. Somehow, the Chiefs got him for less than that and only guaranteed $20 million to Reid. Even with bias aside, that’s one of the best deals of free agency so far.

Mathieu was probably asking for a lot of money which the Chiefs were not going to give him at his age and even other young options like Marcus Williams, who just signed with the Baltimore Ravens for 5 years, $70 million, seem to be pretty expensive. Getting Reid for way less, one who is just 25 years old, is a steal for Kansas City. Reid may not quite be an All-Pro (yet) like Mathieu was during his run but the ceiling is still quite high for Reid.

What does Reid do well and what does he bring to the Chiefs? Well, I think the first thing to note about Reid is his versatility and all the ways he can be used. Reid has lined up at free and strong safety in the past and has the athleticism and long speed to play over the top and is also willing to put his body on the line to make tackles and create turnovers.

Reid’s pursuit is non-stop and his effort is unquestioned. Many in Houston wondered who would be the leader after Mathieu left to sign a 3-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2019 offseason and that player ended up being Reid who played alongside Mathieu in Houston in 2018.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Chiefs use the new safety tandem of Juan Thornhill and Reid, but with Reid being one of the better young coverage safeties in football, they can do a lot of things and really try to shut down the middle of the field for opposing offenses.

Reid also seemed to have a nose for the ball in Houston as he was always making plays, compiling 7 interceptions, 23 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries in 4 seasons with Houston. Reid’s also been relatively healthy in his career by missing only 8 games in four seasons with the Texans, so durability shouldn’t be a concern.

Reid did have a bit of a downward trend towards the end of his time with the Houston Texans and he posted a 14.3% missed tackle rate which was just about tied for his career-worst in 2021, but some of that has to be attributed to the fact Reid’s been stuck with a dysfunctional Texans organization where he has been relied on to do just about everything for them. He may have been forced to compensate in other areas of his game.

At the end of the day, the Reid signing looks really good for Kansas City at his price tag and his age. He’s not breaking the bank or keeping the Chiefs from executing the rest of their offseason plans and he should immediately fill the void left by Mathieu while sliding in as the new leader of the secondary.