James Bradberry remains Chiefs’ best veteran cornerback option (if they want one)

On Friday, the NFL’s transaction wire featured yet another free agent signing like most days in the early spring. With the word that the Indianapolis Colts had signed cornerback Stephon Gilmore, however, this one affected the market more than other signings for the Kansas City Chiefs. It left James Bradberry of the New York Giants as the best remaining veteran option—that is, if they are interested in such a move.

As of press time, the Chiefs have two reliable cornerbacks on the roster in Rashad Fenton and L’Jarius Sneed. Even there, Fenton has never headed into a season with boundary starter demands, and the Chiefs have very little reliable depth after losing Charvarius Ward and Mike Hughes in free agency and Chris Lammons to bad decisions. It also doesn’t help that the highly versatile Tyrann Mathieu is also gone.

On paper, the Chiefs feel like a prime team for a veteran addition to the secondary, specifically at corner, to help provide another starter as well as further depth and experience in what is an increasingly young defensive backfield.

Or maybe that’s the idea.

If the Kansas City Chiefs want to pick up a veteran cornerback, it looks like James Bradberry is the team’s best remaining option.

For quite some time, the Chiefs had been linked with Gilmore in free agency and Bradberry via the trade block with possible interest in both. Of course, there were no substantive reports emerging about either. Rather, it was more of an analytical connecting of the dots. However, given the team’s need and the proven abilities of both players in past seasons, Gilmore and Bradberry both made sense as potential acquisitions for K.C.

Fast forward to Friday and the Colts have removed Gilmore as an option by giving him a two-year, $23 million deal. Now it seems as if Bradberry is the last potential splashy option for the Chiefs if they want to make one. At this point, it doesn’t look like it.

While fans and analysts want to link the Chiefs with a proven product, the Chiefs might actually feel good about Fenton and Sneed holding down the secondary as pillars themselves to go with the potential in Deandre Baker, Luq Barcoo, DiCaprio Bootle, and Brandin Dandridge. The upcoming NFL Draft will also feature a likely addition or two, which will further round out the depth chart for the coming season.

Of course, it’s also possible that the Chiefs just don’t want to give up any draft assets for Bradberry and are waiting for the Giants to release him. And it’s not as if the market is completely barren. Bashaud Breeland, Robert Alford, Bryce Callahan, Kyle Fuller, Richard Sherman, and Jason Verrett are among the free agents remaining. Still, Bradberry holds the best mix of remaining youth, previous experience, and proven ceiling which is why such connections were made in the first place.

Will the Chiefs make a move for a veteran? Are they content to let the kids play? At the very least, the Colts have limited their options further if they wanted to bring in an experienced presence. Bradberry is the best option left for a team that might or might not be interested.