After flirting with him a year ago, the Kansas City Chiefs finally signed former Green Bay Packers cornerback Bashaud Breeland.
Breeland’s addition continues the rebuild that general manager Brett Veach began this offseason to reshape his struggling defense.
In signing Breeland, the Chiefs have found a veteran talent and capable starter to replace Steven Nelson, who signed a free agent contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. As most fans remember, Breeland nearly signed with the Chiefs during training camp in August, but the financial demands of a 3-year contract, didn’t fit the Chiefs’ limited salary cap.
With no multi-year offers on the table, Breeland signed with the Green Bay Packers where he had mixed results. Though promised a starters role, Breeland played much of his time behind a pair of young cornerbacks. Rumors suggest that there was talk of bringing him back to the NFC North team, but the Chiefs gave him a one-year deal that included attainable incentives pushing his contract towards $5 million in 2019.
If the season started today, Breeland would start opposite late season bloomer Charvarius Ward. That would mean Kendall Fuller would slide back inside to the slot position where he’s more comfortable.
Even with the signing of Breeland, the Chiefs might not be done adding secondary pieces. As of this writing, the Chiefs were entertaining former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard, so there is a possibility the Chiefs could add him to their secondary.
The Chiefs off-season plan was to land a shutdown cornerback. As a cheaper option, Breeland can be that, but even with the addition of Dennard to the mix, I suspect Kansas City might still might dangle one of their 2019 or 2020 second round picks to acquire a premier cornerback.
The defense has already seen significant attrition and additions. Kansas City made a big splash at the onset of free agency when they signed safety Tyrann Mathieu to a 3-year deal last week.
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