Chiefs Pushed to Sign Former Broncos & Chargers Starter as ‘Insurance’
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in Week 11 and the Bleacher Report staff had a veteran free agent option for KC to take a look at from a depth perspective.
Former Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers starter Bryce Callahan is currently unsigned. It’s unclear what the long-time NFL cornerback is looking for at age 32, but most older players are typically interested in a chance at a Super Bowl run.
“[The Chief
s] can get some insurance in case of an injury with Bryce Callahan right now,” Bleacher Report suggested. “Callahan just turned 32 years old and was successful in 11 starts for the Chargers last season.”
The slot extraordinaire has never been a part of a championship team, but he’s been a tremendous role player throughout his career. As a depth piece in KC, the Chiefs could do far worse.
Chiefs Very Young at Cornerback in the Event of Injury
Kansas City has managed to avoid major injury to the secondary in 2023.
Trent McDuffie has suited up for all nine outings this year after only starting 11 as a rookie. Veteran L’Jarius Sneed has also managed to stay healthy this season, as has second-year prospect Joshua Williams.
In fact, out of the Chiefs’ top four CBs, only Jaylen Watson has missed a game due to injury in 2023. And KC still has rookie Nic Jones on the roster behind him.
So, why add Callahan?
If the Chiefs did sign the seven-year NFL pro, it would likely be a practice squad deal to start. That might make sense for Kansas City.
The second-half free agent option would merely serve as a backup plan, in the event that one or two of the Chiefs’ top four gets hurt. Let’s say Sneed misses a few starts, for example, or some combination of McDuffie, Williams or Watson suffers an injury.
It’s not something KC fans want to think about, but it’s a general manager’s job to prepare for the worst and the Chiefs have very little veteran depth at CB right now.
On the practice squad, Kansas City only has undrafted rookie Ekow Boye-Doe and Keith Taylor at the position. The latter does have some experience with the Carolina Panthers, but his track record is nothing like Callahan’s (56 career NFL starts).
