Chiefs chased after multiple cornerbacks at NFL roster cuts deadline

It appears the Chiefs were hungry for more help at cornerback than anyone might have realized.

The Kansas City Chiefs were as busy as any franchise other than the Carolina Panthers at the deadline for NFL roster cuts before the start of a new season. But NFL reporter Field Yates recently posted news that the Chiefs were after even more players behind the scenes, with a specific positional interest that reveals their thoughts on the depth at secondary.

Every NFL team had to cut their rosters down from 90 players to 53 over the last week. In the process, hundreds and hundreds of young players were subject to the league's waiver wire, a process where any team can "claim" a player if they've accrued less than four seasons in the league.

Yates reported on Thursday that there were two players who were more popular than any other—and had multiple teams claiming each of them: cornerbacks Shemar Bartholemew and Samuel Womack.

Bartholemew came into the league as a rookie free agent out of Georgia Southern with the New York Jets. Womack has been a familiar face in the league as a corner for the 49ers the last two seasons with 23 games played. As Yates reported, the Chiefs were in on both.

The Chiefs did end up claiming another cornerback, Eric Scott, from the Dallas Cowboys. The former sixth-round pick was apparently open to be claimed by Kansas City, who were last in the waiver wire order as the previous season's Super Bowl champion. Scott was a sixth-round pick for Dallas back in 2023.

The Chiefs waived Nic Jones to make room for Scott and the message here looks quite clear—that after a number of competitors, the Chiefs felt insecure about the level of talent or fit after a certain number of players and they went hard after an upgrade, especially for special teams play. It will be interesting to see how things work out there for Dave Toub and the Chiefs.