Kansas City Chiefs Sign ERFAs DB Nazeeh Johnson, OL Mike Caliendo
The Kansas City Chiefs are bringing back two versatile exclusive rights free agents, signing defensive back Nazeeh Johnson and offensive lineman Mike Caliendo.
The Kansas City Chiefs retained two of their own on Tuesday, announcing the signing of two exclusive rights free agents: defensive back Nazeeh Johnson and offensive lineman Mike Caliendo.
Johnson entered the league as a seventh-round draft pick out of Marshall in the 2022 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he appeared as a special teams player in 11 regular-season games and all three of the Chiefs' playoff games, including Super Bowl LVII.
Johnson earned defensive reps in training camp leading up to the 2023 season before tearing his ACL, an injury that knocked him out for the entire year. After Johnson suffered the injury, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said he had seen good things from Johnson during his second camp.
"I’m really sad to see that happen [to] Nazeeh," Spagnuolo said. "He was really climbing. If you guys notice, he was taking reps with the first group because he had earned it. He’s got a really good corner skill set. I mean, he played safety in college, but so hopefully, you know, we’ll pray he gets healthy real quick and gets back."
Head coach Andy Reid echoed a similar statement following Johnson's injury.
"Yeah, Nazeeh was playing good football," Reid said. "We've got some other guys that can play there, but he's a good special teams player and he's a good corner. He's really developed over the years. It's too bad that it happened. He's got a good attitude about it, and he'll get back when he can get back."
Caliendo signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent after the 2022 NFL Draft and spent 2022 on the team's practice squad. Caliendo appeared in eight games for the Chiefs in 2023, taking 64 offensive snaps and 36 special teams snaps, with seven of the offensive snaps coming late in KC's blowout win over the Chicago Bears in Week 3 and the other 57 coming in Week 18 when the Chiefs played backups against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Caliendo appears to be on the Chiefs' developmental interior offensive lineman path, perhaps giving the team young cost-controlled depth at guard as Joe Thuney enters his age-32 season and Trey Smith enters the final year of his rookie contract.
Caliendo may have also seen a role open this offseason as former do-it-all interior lineman Nick Allegretti left for the Washington Commanders in free agency after playing a pivotal role in place of Thuney down the stretch for KC. Allegretti tore his UCL in Super Bowl LVIII but played through the injury, helping the Chiefs become back-to-back champions. Now, Caliendo projects to be KC's third IOL behind Thuney and Smith ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.
