The Kansas City Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football in Week 14.
Ahead of their second matchup of the season, Bleacher Report analyst Alex Ballentine suggested that LAC pursue starting safety and veteran team leader Justin Reid in 2025 NFL free agency. And this is unfortunately a very real and plausible outcome if the Chargers decide to shop for a more experienced body on the back end.
“[LAC defensive coordinator] Jesse Minter’s arrival has been a positive for a lot of the Chargers’ defensive personnel,” Ballentine began. Reasoning: “The unit is playing much better than it did last year, and there are several individual players who have been beneficiaries of the change. [Safety] Alohi Gilman isn’t one of them. His PFF grade has ranked 80th out of the 89 players they’ve graded.”
“Justin Reid isn’t playing at an elite level,” the NFL writer acknowledged, “but he’s a steady veteran who the Chargers could use. Minter’s defense has been at its best with three safeties on the field, so Derwin James can be free to make plays. Reid would allow them to do that.”
Should Chiefs Allow Justin Reid to Walk in 2025 NFL Free Agency? — Weighing the Pros & Cons of His Game
Reid has done nothing but help the Chiefs win Super Bowls since arriving in Kansas City. Having said that, his personal contributions have fluctuated depending on the specific areas of his game.
It’s hard to measure Reid’s value as a leader, but he certainly provides an impact in this regard. The locker room would miss the soon-to-be 28-year-old, and him joining an up-and-coming division rival would be less than ideal.
As a safety and defensive playmaker, however, Reid has struggled at times. Especially in 2024.
For starters, Reid has been getting torched in pass coverage this season. According to Pro Football Focus, no Chiefs defender has allowed more receiving yards than Reid this year with nearly 500 yards against.
The safety has also allowed a team-leading 131.7 passer rating against, not to mention 82.6% of his targets have been caught.
This is a sharp decline from Reid’s 2023 numbers in pass coverage, which included less yardage allowed in more appearances (403 in 16 games) and a passer rating against of 99.8. He also only allowed 64.4% of his targets to be caught last season.
On the flip side, Reid has been a strong asset as a run defender and a reliable open-field tackler.
Reid’s 5.5% missed tackle rate is one of the lowest among Chiefs defenders with a minimum of 300 defensive snaps. Only defensive linemen Mike Danna and Chris Jones, cornerback Nazeeh Johnson and linebacker Leo Chenal rank lower.
Similarly, Reid ranks third on the team in key defensive stops that “constitute a failure for the offense.” He has been credited with 24 stops this year. Last season, Reid finished with 32 stops, which ranked second for the entire team at the time.
Nine of those “stops” have come in run defense in 2024, and Reid’s average depth of tackle is only 5.3 yards. For reference, that average ranks 10th in the NFL for all safeties (minimum 50% of snaps), and partner Bryan Cook’s average depth of tackle in run defense is 9.7 yards.
Chiefs Have Already Replaced Justin Reid Through the Draft
So, to sum up the above statistics, Reid is regressing in pass coverage — and has been a weak link in that regard in 2024 — but he’s still an able tackler and a stout run defender, as well as an important voice in the locker room.
All of this debate may not really matter at the end of the day though. The reality is that general manager Brett Veach has already made the moves to replace Reid through the draft.
The veteran is one of the Chiefs’ largest cap hits this season, ranking fifth at $14.25 million according to Over the Cap. Kansas City could lower this number if they were to extend Reid, but why would they when they have promising prospects like Jaden Hicks and Christian Roland-Wallace waiting in the wings?
Not to mention current starters Cook and Chamarri Conner (nickel).
The Chiefs appear to have a stacked safety room long-term, assuming these four continue to develop. The best part? They’re all playing on rookie contracts.
For that reason, there’s really no need to bring back Reid in 2025. But if he leaves, you do hope that he doesn’t end up with a rival.
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Chiefs Rival Pushed to Steal Veteran Team Leader Away From KC