State of the Chiefs’ secondary after free agency, ahead of draft

As the 2026 roster for the Kansas City Chiefs comes into shape this offseason, the biggest question marks lie in the defensive backfield.

The Chiefs' defense will move forward without three key starters in the secondary: cornerbacks Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and safety Bryan Cook.

In reaction to the departures, Kansas City acquired veteran safety Alohi Gilman and cornerback Kader Kohou. Those two are joining the returning defensive backs: Chamarri Conner, Nohl Williams, Jaden Hicks, Kristian Fulton, Christian Roland-Wallace and Kevin Knowles.

The rest of the defensive backs on the Chiefs' 90-man roster are as follows: cornerback Melvin Smith Jr. and safety Tanner McCalister.

Projected spots on the 53-man roster

Last season, Kansas City entered the regular season with nine defensive backs on the initial 53-man roster: five cornerbacks and four safeties.

Since the team hired defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo before the 2019 season, the Chiefs have kept either nine or 10 defensive backs each year.

Projected cornerbacks

• Nohl Williams
• Kristian Fulton
• Kader Kohou (61% of career snaps in slot)
• Christian Roland-Wallace (54% of career snaps in slot)
• Kevin Knowles (89% of career snaps in slot)

Projected safeties

• Chamarri Conner
• Jaden Hicks
• Alohi Gilman

In total, there are eight defensive backs, which leaves a spot or two open on the roster with this current group.

Roles needing to be filled

Taking a closer look at the cornerbacks, the team has an interesting mix of slot defenders - alongside Conner - to compete for snaps in that role.

If Kohou is an every-down slot, he should be an upgrade in coverage over Conner as the Nickel on neutral downs

But he looks like enough of a playmaker around the L.O.S. as well pic.twitter.com/DqKaMtfBG3

- Ron Kopp Jr (@RonOnChiefs) March 23, 2026

Kohou projects to be the starter due to his experience with the Miami Dolphins; he should be an upgrade in coverage ability compared to the team's leader in slot snaps last year: Conner.

However, the team is lacking an experienced cornerback (or two) to man the boundary to rotate with or provide depth for the projected starters on the outside: Williams and Fulton.

When looking at the safeties, there is a core trio of capable starters - but the team has constantly elected to have a fourth safety that can fill in, whether it's a veteran like Mike Edwards or a primarily special-teams presence.

Depending on how the Chiefs attack the offseason, that fourth safety" could be one of Conner of Hicks by the start of the season.

Potential additions

Among the free agents still available, the following players have experience playing outside cornerback and could be relatively inexpensive signings:

• Kaiir Elam - 24 years old (19 career starts with two interceptions and eight passes defended).
• Martin Emerson - 25 years old (33 career starts with four interceptions and 34 passes defended).
• Dane Jackson - 29 years old (31 career starts with three interceptions and 30 passes defended).
• L'Jarius Sneed - 29 years old (66 career starts with 10 interceptions and 43 passes defended).

The Chiefs could elect to make another signing at the safety position - one that could potentially be cut depending on how the draft shakes out. It feels like any other legitimate attempt at boosting the safety position will come through using draft capital, like selecting Bryan Cook in the second round after signing veteran Justin Reid during the 2022 offseason.

Alohi Gilman has played 64% of his career snaps as a Free Safety (PFF)

You can see him anticipating routes and jumping routes from over the top pic.twitter.com/oaFff6MjXs

- Ron Kopp Jr (@RonOnChiefs) March 20, 2026

When you look at what kind of safety Kansas City could be targeting in the draft, it feels as if the group is still missing a playmaker in the box or around the line of scrimmage. Gilman has proven himself as a free safety in the NFL, while Hicks has flashed over the top as well.

Conner has certainly been a disruptor when used in that fashion, but it feels like he doesn't have the all-around instinct to be as much of a chess piece as Spagnuolo has had at the position.

The top four safety prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft are considerably intriguing because of how often they were utilized close to the line of scrimmage.

• Caleb Downs, Ohio State - 241 box snaps, 240 free-safety snaps and 146 slot snaps in 2025.
• Dillon Thieneman, Oregon - 434 box snaps, 247 free-safety snaps and 118 slot snaps in 2025.
• Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo - 401 box snaps, 198 free-safety snaps and 33 slot snaps in 2025.
• Keionte Scott, Miami - 196 box snaps, two free-safety snaps and 489 slot snaps in 2025.

Each player was ranked in the latest edition of The Athletic's top-50 consensus big board.

The bottom line

The Chiefs still have work to do in getting the defensive backfield to full strength for the short-term and the long-term. The position could be boosted in a few different ways, whether it's a late-state signing in free agency or through the draft.

With the current roster, Kansas City could feel comfortable continuing to build the cornerback room with one-off investments - but don't be surprised if the biggest move to come is at the safety spot.