Getty Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward guards Buffalo Bills wide-out Gabriel Davis on January 23, 2022.
Back on December 14, 2021, Kansas City Chiefs superstar Tyrann Mathieu made a social media pitch to management to “re-sign 35” — referring to cornerback Charvarius Ward.
Both members of the KC secondary are impending free agents in 2022 and there is a real chance that neither return this offseason. Mathieu is already playing his hand on Twitter and although GM Brett Veach made defense sound like a priority, Ward doesn’t feel like the first name on the list.
If he does leave in free agency, one NFL analyst had a prediction for where he might end up.
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Ward to the Desert?
During an episode of “Heavy Presents: I’m Just Saying With Brian Mazique,” our expert panel of analysts took a look at the Arizona Cardinals free agency need at cornerback. As each writer suggested their favorite target, Ward came up in conversation — courtesy of Matthew Davis of Heavy on Buccaneers. He voiced:
The one that I’d like [to see is] Charvarius Ward [of] the Chiefs. I think that would be a great pickup — I think Pro Football Focus recommended him. I mean he has a good player grade and stuff like that, he had two [interceptions] this season, 10 pass deflections, [he’s] a little short being [6-foot-1] but it’s not a bad height either. Obviously, he comes from a good winning culture with the Chiefs so I think that’d be huge and I think you need to get those kind of players if you’re going to be in a win-now mode and you got a young team like the Cardinals do. So I think that would be a huge addition. They’re in a very pass-happy division with the [Los Angeles] Rams… so they need to get quality there, they need to get somebody that comes from a winning team that really kind of gets [what you need to do] to [boost] your teammates [and] take things to the next level.
It’s an interesting landing spot for the former Dallas Cowboys UDFA that rose to a starting role with Kansas City.
Davis is right, the NFC West is a tough division with top-notch receivers like Cooper Kupp, DK Metcalf, Deebo Samuel, Robert Woods, Tyler Lockett and Odell Beckham Jr. (for now) among others. Arizona needs a tough, physical cornerback and that’s what Ward brings to the table.
The question for Chiefs Kingdom is — would an offer like this price out Veach and KC?
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Veach Discusses Charvarius
During his press conference on February 1, Veach was asked about Ward’s free-agent status and how he may address the CB position.
“Charvarius [Ward] has done a great job for us. He’s another guy you throw in that mix of the guys that are up that we’d want to have [a] dialogue with,” the Chiefs GM began. “I thought that he has progressed every single season and our staff has done a great job with Charvarius and having [L’Jarius] Sneed and [Rashad] Fenton back, those are two guys that have played productive roles for us. L.J., we think, is just outstanding in his approach and his versatility, and Fenton is a guy that consistently shows up on the field for us and is able to play and produce for us.”
He continued: “I think there’s — some of the misconceptions about not valuing the corner position. A lot of what happens in the league and a lot of how you spend your draft capital and what you do, there is some element of being circumstantial. You’re going to value the O-line and D-line and then you’re going to value corners too because they’re hard positions, but at the same time, not having a ton of cap space every year and not picking in the top 10, it’s hard to just say we’re going to go out and get a corner. There [are] other elements too. Let’s say you’re picking at 30 and the top two or three consensus corners are gone. There may be a corner that you have graded in that too but does he pass the medicals? The coaching? The scheme? The fit? So it’s not always — here are the raw numbers, address one and take one. There are so many factors that come into play.”
Veach ended by saying: “Anytime you can get a good, young corner, I think that is something any team wouldn’t pass up.” He did add, however, that the CB market has “skyrocketed” in recent years.
Read into those quotes however you’d like but it wasn’t exactly a glowing endorsement that sounded like the Chiefs are willing to dish out a ton of money to match whatever offer Ward gets on the open market. After all, KC let Kendall Fuller walk after the Super Bowl win.