Getty Houston Texans cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III.
The Kansas City Chiefs‘ young secondary showed promise during training camp and the preseason this summer, but if there’s one thing we know for certain: Their journey throughout the 2022 NFL season won’t be easy.
Along with having to face each team in the AFC West twice during the regular season, the Chiefs must also face the NFC West, which includes the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, and Seattle Seahawks, all of which have at least one elite receiving threat, if not more. Those pass-catchers will face Chiefs rookie first-round pick Trent McDuffie, rookie fourth-round pick Joshua Williams, rookie seventh-round pick Jaylen Watson, and third-year corner L’Jarius Sneed.
That’s why Kansas City could use some more experience in their cornerback room to help fight through the gauntlet of elite receivers this season. One NFL analyst has a free agent in mind for the Chiefs, and he just so happens to be a former first-round pick.
Chiefs ‘Best Free-Agent Option’ for Vernon Hargreaves
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report named the best free-agent option for all 32 NFL teams and chose veteran cornerback Vernon Hargreaves as the player for Kansas City.
Hargreaves entered the NFL as a first-round pick (11th overall) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016. During his career — which includes four seasons in Tampa Bay, two seasons with the Houston Texans, and a playoff run with the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2021 season — Hargreaves has accumulated 290 tackles and 31 passes defended in 69 games played, according to Pro Football Reference.
“It wouldn’t hurt for Kansas City—which lost starting corner Charvarius Ward in free agency—to add a little more experience to the group. However, the Chiefs have less than $1 million in cap space with which to work,” Knox wrote on September 6.
“Taking a flier on Vernon Hargreaves could help bolster Kansas City’s veteran depth while requiring minimal cap clearance. Hargreaves’ last contract was a one-year, $2 million deal with Houston.”
Should Chiefs Pursue Hargreaves?
Entering Week 1 of the regular season, the Chiefs have roughly $1.6 million in available cap space, per Over The Cap. That’s very little wiggle room for a team to have entering the regular season, as having ample cap space to utilize throughout the season in case of injuries is typically a good course of action for NFL teams. That’s also one of the reasons why Kansas City likely won’t pursue Hargreaves.
Even though Hargreaves could come at a cheap cost, the Chiefs have seen nothing from their young cornerback room yet that merits making a panic buy ahead of their regular season opener against the Cardinals. However, if Kansas City’s young corners do struggle early in the season, then it would be warranted to consider adding someone like Hargreaves to the active roster.
The month of September for the Chiefs includes games against the Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, and Indianapolis Colts. It would be wise to see how Kansas City’s secondary fares in those games before a real conversation regarding adding another cornerback to the roster happens. At that point, the Chiefs could add a free agent, or they will have approximately a month before the NFL trade deadline to trade assets with another team.