Much like the 2022 offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs completely restocked the entire secondary over the past few months, bringing in a crop of young talent ready to prove itself. General manager Brett Veach is once again banking a heap of trust in defensive guru Steve Spagnuolo and cornerbacks coach Dave Merritt to, in a way, figure it out, with a bunch of new voices and play styles on the backend.
Certainly, the most notable addition to the secondary was when the Chiefs traded up in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to select LSU CB Mansoor Delane at No. 6 overall. One of the picks used in the trade-up was acquired via the Trent McDuffie trade from the Los Angeles Rams. For as long as he's been here, Veach has been more hesitant than any other GM in the league to pay big money to CBs. McDuffie garnering a four-year, $124 million contract with LA was even more evidence of that.
However, an underrated loss for the Chiefs this offseason that further proves Veach's doubts on paying corners was KC's other starting corner over the last couple of years, Jaylen Watson, also leaving via free agency. He joined McDuffie on the Rams, signing a three-year, $51 million contract. While that was just above the Chiefs' preferred price point to keep Watson, losing him may have more ramifications than you'd think for a former seventh-round selection.
Were the Chiefs too comfortable letting Jaylon Watson walk after career-best year?
Watson was coming off his best season as a pro in 2025 as a true number one outside corner and had been an underratedly massive part of the Chiefs' defense. Spagnuolo's unit being so stout for years on end, when the offense, at times, had trouble mustering even 20 points, was largely due to the play on the backend. Watson accumulated a personal high of 42 total tackles, two sacks, three TFLs (tackles for loss), and two interceptions.
His 6'2", 200lb frame provided a unique set of both size and cover ability, as one of the very few Chiefs corners who had any kind of true ball skills and the ability to flip possessions last season. Watson managed a 74.1 overall grade on PFF, which ranked 17th best in the league out of 114 qualified CBs.
The tape, along with numbers, checks out as one of the better outside corners in the league, despite his draft pedigree. Veach has done well bringing in bodies to compete for starter reps, though it may be hard, at least in 2026, for anyone to replicate what Watson was able to do against some of the better receivers in the league.
Delane's versatility and pristine technical skills make him a sort of Swiss Army knife that Spags can use all over the field. But he'll mainly be one of the two starting outside CBs, with second-year man Nohl Williams, who projects to take a second-year leap as well. Both are young with lots to prove and the past players like Watson to live up to if the Chiefs have any shot of returning to football supremacy.
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