Chiefs’ Safety Room Is Rounding Into Form for 2023
An offseason ago, the Kansas City Chiefs saw Pro Bowl safety Tyrann Mathieu walk out the door via free agency as the club decided against re-signing him. Armani Watts and Daniel Sorensen were also allowed to sign elsewhere, leaving Juan Thornhill and the element of the unknown lurking in the shadows.
General manager Brett Veach did his best to replace any production lost, bringing in Justin Reid as a young piece after his rookie contract expired. Deon Bush was signed after an extended stint with the Chicago Bears, and Bryan Cook was drafted on the heels of an impressive college career with the Cincinnati Bearcats. Things looked different as three new faces worked to complement Thornhill on the back end of Steve Spagnuolo's defense.
Not everything will be the same this coming season now that Thornhill is a member of the Cleveland Browns, but the 2022-23 core remains in place with a bit of extra playmaking flair added to it.
Reid is still the leader of the room, both on and off the field. The 26-year-old posted a 73.2 Pro Football Focus composite defense grade in 2022, stringing together several weeks of solid play to end the regular season. After playing a career-high 1,113 snaps in his first season as a Chief, he'll aim to elevate even higher in 2023. The position group will only go as far as Reid can take it.
Behind Reid, the expectation is that Cook will step up and provide a relatively seamless transition in the aftermath of Thornhill's departure. Playing in 16 regular-season games as a rookie, logging 342 defensive snaps and also stepping in 272 times on special teams, Cook spent the majority of his time aligned as a free safety. That projects favorably for his ability to fill the Thornhill role moving forward. A lot will be asked of him in year No. 2 on the job.
To close out the month of March, it was reported that Bush agreed to return to Kansas City on another one-year deal. Someone who didn't play a ton of defensive snaps in his team debut campaign but emerged as one of the most important special-teamers on the 53-man roster, Bush is a high-level depth piece as a fourth safety. Him being at his best in the fourth position on the depth chart requires one more player to be slotted ahead of him, though, and the Chiefs secured exactly that kind of talent in free agency.
Mike Edwards, who was selected in the same draft as Thornhill, was thrust into starter-level action in his final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and recorded a career-high 82 tackles. While he continued to make highlight-reel plays and have some shining moments, his occasional struggles also reminded the football world of why he's better suited to be the first backup safety rather than the primary starting one. Assuming Cook takes Thornhill's old job alongside Reid, this presents Edwards with an opportunity that is ideal for both him and Bush. It's the best of both worlds for Kansas City.
In the trio of Reid, Cook and Bush, the Chiefs have three safeties who were contributors in 2022 and should have defined roles on the 2023 team. Factoring Edwards into the equation raises the ceiling of the position, adding a player that opposing quarterbacks must account for whenever he's on the field. Having a room that's legitimately four-deep heading into the NFL Draft allows Veach and company to hold off on picking a safety prospect for a while (or entirely) if they so choose. There's no immediate need there.
With that said, there could be a need in 2024. Bush and Edwards are on one-year deals, so there's longer-team flexibility that the team has maintained even with a full group this offseason. The beauty of the situation is that Cook and Reid — the top two — should still be entrenched as starters a year from now. The Chiefs entered this offseason with safety being a minor need/concern, and Veach's balancing act helped check off an underrated box before the calendar even flipped to draft month. That's a pretty clear win in a league that views even the minor ones as noteworthy.
