Kansas City Chiefs: Orlando Scandrick makes sense for the Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs will be the first stop for former Washington Redskins cornerback Orlando Scandrick. Is this a must sign for the Chiefs?

It’s no secret that the cornerback position for the Kansas City Chiefs is one that most fans are concerned about. The entire offseason, the cornerback position has been the highlight of most discussions considering the trade giving up fellow star Marcus Peters to the Los Angeles Rams and the poor production from the unit a year ago.

Kansas City was so desperate at one point last season to find a band-aid for the problem that they went out and signed Darrell Revis in the later part of the season. Revis was not a solution to their problem and the Chiefs ended up cleaning house at the cornerback position with only one former cornerback remaining on the roster entering 2018 being Steven Nelson. It shows that Kansas City feels personnel was the problem for ranking 27th in yards per game given up in the passing game last season.

With Kendall Fuller, who came over from the Alex Smith trade to the Washington Redskins, and Steven Nelson taking the top two spots at the position, the rest of the cornerbacks for the Chiefs are either young unknowns that were taken in the later part of the draft or afterwards, or are players that fans are not thrilled about.

Veteran free agent CB Orlando Scandrick, released by the #Redskins today, is already drawing significant interest on the market. Source said the #Chiefs are the first team to bring him in for a visit, and he’s flying there tonight. 🛫
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 14, 2018

One player that has been the punching bag for the Chiefs this offseason is David Amerson who came over from the Oakland Raiders. His career has been spotty as we have seen him have a great season like he did in 2015 collecting 27 pass deflections in his first season with the Raiders, but his injuries and inconsistency has fans calling for his head already.

Amerson signed a one year prove it deal with the Chiefs this offseason in hopes of getting his career back on track as the third cornerback. Given how defensive coordinator Bob Sutton lined up the defense against the Houston Texans in the week one of the preseason, I’m not overly concerned with Amerson because of that game. Including because I think that at least one of his penalties in the first quarter was questionable.

Regardless, behind Amerson sits two rookies that are clearly not ready to take on number one offenses. I know that sixth-round pick Tremon Smith and UDFA rookie Arrion Springs have had some great plays in training camp, but they both struggled against the twos and threes during the preseason opener. These are not guys that are ready to start with the number one defense.

Both players will take some time to develop and the Chiefs must feel the same way as they are seeking some more veteran presence in the secondary. The Redskins cut cornerback Orlando Scandrick, who spent the last nine seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, not due to his play but the emergence of younger players.

#Redskins head coach Jay Gruden on the release of CB Orlando Scandrick: "It had nothing to do with his play. It was more of the rookies' emergence...it also gives Orlando time to get on another team."
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) August 14, 2018

Much like Amerson, Scandrick had likely the worst season of his career with the Cowboys in 2017 and is looking to have a bounce-back season. The three seasons prior to 2017, Scandrick was a good cornerback for the Cowboys that was able to cause turnovers and get his hand on the ball.

It seemed that Scandrick sought to be cut from the Cowboys after the 2017 season. The former Cowboys captain was unhappy in Dallas and had been overlooked for many seasons. Dallas granted Scandrick the freedom by releasing him in which he went to the divisional rival. He mentioned in an interview on NFL Network that he needed a change of scenery.

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One of the reasons for the frustration from Scandrick might have been with the rumors that Dallas was wanting to trade him away before the 2017 season. Scandrick is another player that will likely get signed for a small one year prove it deal this season which is perfect for Kansas City. Given the lack of veteran depth past the top three cornerbacks, this signing would make all the sense in the world.

Most of Chiefs Twitter was unhappy with the news that Scandrick was stopping in Kansas City first only looking at last years stats. Many fans, the same fans that have complained most of the offseason about Amerson, don’t want Scandrick to come here. Fans that think the late round and undrafted rookies are all of a sudden going to be able to hang with some of the top wide receivers in the league.

While I mentioned earlier that this is not true. They aren’t ready at this point in their development. Bringing in another veteran looking to prove to the world that he can still play on a cheap deal makes all the sense in the world to bring some comfort to the cornerback position and allows Amerson some competition for that third spot.

I think that signing Scandrick for a cheap one year contract makes every bit of sense. Adding competition to push Amerson and the other cornerbacks while also allowing the Chiefs some veteran presence in case one of the starting three go down with an injury. It also allows the rookie cornerbacks not to be thrown in right away before they are ready like we are seeing safety Armani Watts possibly having to do this season.

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