DeAndre Baker's Signing Adds Depth At Cornerback, Which Never Hurts
As reported Tuesday night, the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to add former New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker to their practice squad.
The deal isn't going to break any records or draw lots of national media attention — aside from the crazy storyline surrounding Baker — but it will help the Chiefs down the stretch in one department: depth.
On today's episode of Roughing the Kicker, Arrowhead Report's Conner Christopherson and Jordan Foote join me to discuss the signing of Baker and what he brings to the Chiefs.
There's a lot about Baker that I don't want to get into, I want to focus on the football side of things. If you don't know his whole back story, you can read about it here.
Cornerback has been a position of concern for some time in Kansas City but they have been making do with late-round draft picks who have been putting up serviceable numbers. Kansas City is near the bottom of the league when it comes to cornerback spending.
The addition of Baker is interesting. The price tag wasn't high and the potential seems to be fairly good. The question that I have pondered the most is where is he going to fit in on the defense.
It wasn't too long ago we got a question on a podcast asking who will be the odd man out when L'Jarius Sneed comes back into the rotation. Now we are being asked if Baker can be an all-pro? While Baker will start on the practice squad as he learns the defense, I wouldn't expect him to see more time than Sneed.
As for what he could play when he does come in the game, Baker has a similar body build and frame as Rashad Fenton. It would seem Kansas City wants to get bigger and longer on the outside with Breeland, Sneed and Keyes. Baker's use will more than likely be as a slot or nickel corner.
But don't get me wrong. I like the signing of Baker. The value he could possibly bring with the price tag on him is worth it in itself. With the contracts of Breeland and Ward up in the air for next season, the contract stipulations for Baker are also an incentive. Cornerback depth is always nice and I will never be opposed to it. The signing has little to no risk and the reward could be big. Hopefully, he can put his off-field issues behind him and grow into a serviceable starting corner.
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