Over the offseason, Kansas City Chiefs fans were excited to see the organization go after cornerback Kristian Fulton in free agency. Fulton was signed to a two-year, $20 million deal and projected to play on the perimeter opposite Trent McDuffie.
However, that hasn’t been the case for Fulton through the first five weeks of the season. The young CB has only appeared in two games due to an ankle injury. Fulton didn’t play in last week’s game against Jacksonville and will surprisingly not play in tonight’s game against the Detroit Lions.
According to Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star, Fulton was among the Chiefs’ inactives for Sunday night's primetime contest. This news did not make Chiefs fans happy, especially since Fulton was a full participant at practice throughout the week.
Kristian Fulton Surprisingly Listed as Healthy Scratch vs. Lions in Week 6
For some Chiefs fans, the start of Fulton’s career in Kansas City has to remind them of Josh Uche’s tenure with the team last year.
Uche wasn’t a free agent signing, but was acquired ahead of the 2024 trade deadline to bolster the Chiefs' pass rush. However, the veteran defender only played sparingly in his first five games with the club, was inactive for the next four games, and only returned to the field for the regular season finale.
Seeing the Chiefs almost admit defeat with Fulton is troublesome, as they gave him $20 million to be a starter, not a healthy scratch. Now, that being said, the veteran defender missed some time with an ankle injury, which opened the door for the emergence of rookie cornerback Nohl Williams. The fourth-round pick has played well against some of the better WRs in the league this season.
The Chiefs likely feel the rookie cornerback is giving them more than Fulton, even though the former did not play much for the defense in Week 5.
When Kansas City signed Fulton, he was coming off an OK 2024 campaign with the Los Angeles Chargers. The veteran defensive back posted a 62.5 completion percentage allowed on targets, but had a 103.6 pass rating allowed when targeted and gave up five touchdowns.
Despite those stats, Kansas City’s brass thought he was a solid complement to McDuffie. Obviously, things have drastically changed for the new Chiefs cornerback. It will be interesting to see if we get any update on why Fulton didn’t play after the game, as his future with the team is not exactly clear.