The Kansas City Chiefs know they're asking a lot of Mansoor Delane. They have no choice.
After trading away one of the game's few elite cornerbacks in Trent McDuffie and losing Jaylen Watson in free agency, a secondary in shambles needed not only quantity but quality after losing their alpha and anything even close to it. So the Chiefs not only used their first top-10 pick in a decade on the LSU corner but they even traded up to secure him.
The void. The investment. The expectations for a franchise that fell further than any other in the National Football League a year ago. The Chiefs need Delane to be an instant star at a demanding position.
The good news for Delane is that there's help in his corner. One of Kansas City's savviest free-agent moves was to establish a new veteran leader in the secondary with the signing of Alohi Gilman. With six years in the league with both the Chargers and Ravens, Gilman brings plenty of experience under strong defenses.
The Chiefs needed a veteran safety presence like Gilman for the learning curve ahead.
On Thursday, Gilman met with Chiefs reporters to talk about a number of subjects ahead of mandatory minicamp and a summer break. He hasn't gotten much time with Delane yet but said he's looking forward to the work once he is back in the building full time. When he was asked specifically about that relationship, he also didn't oversell it.
"I think the coaches here and the staff do a great job of just slowly building and stacking," Gilman said. "But I think [Delane] will be in a good spot. They do a great job of teaching here and I'm excited to get to work more and more with him and just grow."
Interestingly, Gilman's word for his work with Delane was to grow alongside him. Despite his extensive experience, the safety admitted that he's also learning a more complicated system under new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Together with Delane and a host of other new arrivals—including corners Kader Kohou and Jadon Canady—the Chiefs secondary is facing the learning curve together.
"I've seen... most of the coverages since I've been in the league, but just the depth and the detail is definitely the biggest adjustment and it makes it fun for me," said Gilman, then added, "I'm the older guy, but there are guys [who've] been around in the league, I know it's a young team, at least within my DB room, they're all very, they're all smart."
Gilman did say that he was pleased to see the bigger picture for the Chiefs' defense come into full view over the course of the 2026 NFL Draft, as they used their first four selections, including two first-round picks, on that side of the ball.
"it was pretty cool just seeing the vision from a new guy stepping into a new place and see how they connect the pieces of the puzzle," said Gilman of Delane and the rest of the draft class. "Obviously, I was a part of a puzzle and here to compete and to help to this team the best that I can. But seeing the rest of it pulled together is pretty cool. Having a little bit more experience under my belt.In the beginning, I didn't really know what's happening, what's going on, but seeing the pieces that we're able to create here and the vision that they have for this team is exciting."
For a rookie like Delane, who's about to be tasked with CB1 snaps in a high-stakes scheme at the sport's highest level, Gilman is the right kind of veteran to have around. The Chiefs missed that sort of presence a year ago after letting Justin Reid leave to the New Orleans Saints on a three-year deal in free agency. It was the team's first year without a veteran safety leading the secondary since Spagnuolo arrived in 2019 and Tyrann Mathieu was signed to be his cornerstone.
Gilman says the only way for everyone to learn is to fail forward, especially in these spring and summer moments when the stakes don't matter. "Right now, it's just learning and growing and making a lot of mistakes. I've made a bunch and I'm going to keep making them. So I'm going to just keep working."
It might take some time for the unit to gel, but having someone like Gilman in house is the ideal leader to have in a room that's undergone seismic shifts. Delane is in good hands, and together, the Chiefs defense might be much better than anyone anticipated.
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