Kaiir Elam might be staring at his last chance.
By now, the story should be very familiar to Kansas City Chiefs fans. In the 2022 NFL Draft, the Chiefs traded ahead of the cornerback-needy Buffalo Bills to secure the services of Trent McDuffie, who would go on to become one of the NFL's truly elite corners. Four years later, he'd priced himself out of K.C., and the team traded him to the L.A. Rams for cap relief and a draft bounty. The Bills were left to draft Elam, who fizzled out after three lackluster seasons in Buffalo.
McDuffie's departure wasn't the only one to leave K.C. this offseason. The mass exodus out of the Chiefs' secondary was the NFL personnel version of the Israelites fleeing Egypt. This created a sort of full-circle moment for Elam: to potentially fill the void created by McDuffie & Co. with the team that forced him to Buffalo in the first place. McDuffie versus Elam has been a sore subject for some time, but Kansas City looked like the best place to rehabilitate his stock, given their long-term success with corners under Dave Merritt's tutelage.
Elam joined the Chiefs on a one-year deal this spring (worth $1.8 million with $500K guaranteed), a roll of the dice with house money on a former first-round pick. It's a classic Brett Veach move that made sense for all parties involved.
Elam has yet to make his move
On the eve of the team's second preseason game, and with less than two weeks before final roster cuts are due, Elam has done very little to separate himself from the glut of competitors brought in to rebuild the defensive backfield.
In the Chiefs' preseason opener against the Rams, Elam played only 17 total snaps, putting him behind Melvin Smith (21) and on par with D'Arco Perkins-McCallister and Zelmar Vedder (16 apiece). Being in that tier of the DB competition isn't going to do Elam any favors, and that playing time mirrors the lack of buzz about him at training camp as well. Other defenders have made their presence felt, but Elam was only a talking point this offseason when he first signed with the Chiefs.
Kansas City's crowded cornerback room isn't helping
At this point, the Chiefs have to feel good about their cornerback depth, which in itself is rather shocking given the turnover. Mansoor Delane is the lockdown option, Nohl Williams looks ready to emerge as a physical force in his second season. L'Jarius Sneed, Kristian Fulton, Jadon Canady, Kader Kohou, and Chris Roland-Wallace are all bound for the active roster as well, leaving Elam to compete with the aforementioned along with Kevin Knowles.
The truth is that Elam was always a long shot to make this roster. There's a reason the Bills traded him to the Dallas Cowboys after three seasons in a low-level swap of draft assets. There's a reason the Cowboys waived him after 10 games. There's a reason the Tennessee Titans didn't bring him back after a late-season tryout. There's a reason why the Chiefs got him so cheap in the first place.
The first-round pedigree will be a siren's song for at least one more team to take a chance on him. He's still only 25, so those elements alone will be enough to lure a front office in. But if Elam couldn't make it work with Dave Merritt's help and a blank slate of a secondary before him, it's likely not in the cards for him at all in the NFL. Elam's got one more last gasp in the form of the Chiefs' second preseason game agains the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before his greatest opportunity to turn things around slips away.
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